The Seventh Mage
by Imania
Summary: If someone had TOLD Crono and his friends that Kelke Peatsar, the evil mage, was needed, they wouldn't have killed him. Well, probably not. Now they have to deal with the other Mages, the loss of Frog, AND their own Lavos problems! The third of a trilogy.
1. Chapter One

**Author's Note :** It's a trilogy! I'm sorry! This is _probably_ going to be the last one – hopefully it won't stretch into a series - but don't count on it. I really am taking this too far, aren't I? Anyway, we _will_ see. By the way, (I'm giving away part of the plot here) I have THE RETURN OF MAGUS (yay! Yay!) all planned so he won't be in it for _ages_! Sob! Anyhow… excuse me, I'd better get back to work… By the way, I swear, it will have more of a plot closer to the end. At the moment it's a little… slow… boring… well, see what you think. I'm sorry! If you can stick it through to the end, I swear it will be better! I swear!

By the way – this is a long introduction, isn't it? – this story later has some ideas about the game in it that are purely my own. You are welcome to disagree with them, and you can even argue your own ideas with me later if you like. I think I'm kind of twisting something the game said, but this is my interpretation of it. You definitely don't have to have the same opinion.

One last thing – and I swear this is the last! – unless I can get this story written and posted entirely in six weeks, there will be a break of a minimum of two months before my next post. I thought I'd let you know now that I won't have fallen off the face of the universe, I simply won't have access to my computer for that time. So I guess the pressure's on! And now I'd better stop wasting space and allow you to get on with it…

The Seventh Mage 

**Chapter One – The End of Time**

The young scientist glanced up eagerly as someone opened the gate. Lucca's face fell and she looked down again. "Oh. Hi."

            "Don't be too pleased," Marle grumbled.

            "I'm sorry, I just hoped…" Lucca found her hands fascinating. "You know."

            "I _do_ know," Marle agreed, exchanging a glance with Schala. "You hoped it'd be Magus. …We've been looking for him for two weeks now, Lucca. Wasting the time in which we could be preparing for the fight with Lavos. There are too many timeframes. Too many places. He could be anywhere, he could be moving continuously. We'd be lucky to find him, but we're not going to have that luck."

            Lucca shook her head slightly. "I guess we don't have to find him. He'll come back. He said as much. He took the Masamune and he said he'd bring it back." She felt warmth at her thigh, looked down, then hoisted the cat into her lap. "And we have Alfador. He'll come back for Alfador. And for Schala."

            "And for you," said Schala under her breath as she moved to the girl. "I agree, Lucca. He wouldn't have just abandoned us. He'll be back."

            Crono, Ayla and Robo arrived at the End of Time via the Epoch at that moment. There was only the seven of them now, counting Alfador. Namely, Crono, Lucca, Marle, Ayla, Robo, Schala and Alfador himself. Magus had left to do something and could be anywhere. Frog was gone. Probably dead. They didn't often think about him now.

            It had all been Magus' fault, Marle thought sourly as she went to Crono. He had been the target of the evil Mage, Kelke Peatsar. Kelke had attacked them, blocking Magus' magic, and the group had confronted Kelke in order to get him to return to Magus the use of his magic. However, Kelke's residence had been in another universe entirely. Lucca had modified the Epoch to get them there. Once in the universe, Marle had managed to get them mixed up with the Eight Mages – almost guardians of that universe, set on creating a shield around their world to cause Lavos (who was also coming there) to bounce harmlessly off onto an uninhabited planet.

            With the guidance of Tarreiz, a seemingly young girl whom Marle was convinced was one of the Mages, the group had located Kelke's castle and had gone in to fight him. They had won, and as a result, he had done his best to kill them in vengeance. Frog had stopped that by killing the Mage, although Kelke had taken their companion with him to wherever it was that he was going.

            A week or so after the return to their own universe, Magus had borrowed the Masamune and had promptly disappeared. Crono and his friends had been looking for the now-somewhat-good wizard since then.

            "Did you find him?" Marle asked softly, slipping her arms around Crono's waist.

            "No." Crono hugged her back briefly, and then moved away. "How is Lucca taking it?"

            Marle glanced at her friend, who was stroking Alfador and talking to Schala. "Not well, although she seems to be coping on the outside."

            Crono nodded. "I think your theory was correct. She _was_ in love with him.'

            "It was fairly obvious, Crono. The only thing of which I wasn't certain was if he felt the same way."

            The End of Time was a small place, and Lucca had caught the end of the conversation. She didn't particularly mind. Marle was mostly right. Lucca wasn't even sure if what she had come to feel for Magus was love, but she had often wondered if he felt anything for her at all. He had kissed her. As they fled the Black Citadel, before Frog had given his life for them, he had kissed her. Two weeks after returning to their universe, he had disappeared without a word of his ultimate destination.

            Without a word of explanation. She presumed that he wouldn't have kissed her if he hadn't meant something by it, but he hadn't mentioned anything about it. Nor had she, but she hadn't known what to say. She had been desperate to talk to him about it but simply hadn't had a clue about what to do. She couldn't take Magus apart, find out how he worked, and then put him back together. Perhaps he had been waiting for her to do something. Did people take turns in love? Maybe she had missed her chance by not responding to his advances. If that had been an advance. Lucca wouldn't have known an advance if it jumped up and hit her over the head. Now machines, she understood. It was a pity that people weren't so easy.

            Still, she had his cat. And his sister. Magus would be back, she was sure of it, if not just to collect what belonged to him. When he returned, she would make sure that she spoke to him about how she felt. She turned phrases over in her mind, trying to work out the best one. "Magus, I love you", would, she knew, go down like a ton of bricks. There had to be a way. She would work one out.

            Lucca glanced up as six little columns of coloured sparkles appeared and jumped to her feet, reaching instinctively for her gun. The others had reacted in a similar way, Crono drawing his sword, Marle readying her crossbow, Ayla lifting her fists. They had not anticipated the violation of their sanctuary, the End of Time.

            Six people appeared, one for each column of light. The first, from the yellow sparkles, was garbed in a robe of gold. His eyes were gold too. Even his hair was yellow. He wore a necklace with a pendant of intricately twisted gold that seemed to glow. The second was a woman dressed in blue, a strand of her long dark hair falling before her blue eyes. The man who appeared from the red light was, predictably, wearing red. His eyes and hair were dark, and he looked similar to the second. The fourth was a familiar man, wearing green, his hair a dark, almost grey blonde and his eyes a vivid green. Marle smiled with recognition; they had all encountered Tarkyn before.

            Familiar also was the fifth person, a girl of about sixteen years. Fair-haired and pale-skinned, her eyes were literally like dark pools of water. Clear, almost. Schala and Marle traded glances and smiles. Only Lucca didn't look particularly impressed. Everyone, with the exception of the scientist, was fond of Tarreiz.

            "We are the Eight Mages," announced the first man, "although, as you can see, there are only six of us. This is partly your fault."

            "I don't – " Crono began indignantly.

            The man held his hand up for silence. "I am Jandegar, the Mage of the Sun." He indicated the woman next to him. "Kerrelei, Water-Mage. The next is Jhyskar, the Mage of the Fire. Tarkyn the Forest-Mage is the fourth. I believe that you have previously encountered the fifth, Tarreiz, the Mage of Vision. The Sixth Mage is the Mage of the Moon, Ciaruse."

            "How's that?" Crono queried curiously.

            "See-_ah_-rus," explained the sixth woman. "The 'e' is silent." She wore a silver dress that showed off her figure in a way that actually seemed unintentional and a silver cape. Her slightly wavy, thick blonde hair fell to her thighs and her eyes were the ever-changing colour of the sea. Crono, who had eyes only for Marle, would never have noticed her beauty if she had remained silent. Her voice was relatively low-pitched, rich and melodious, and he was instantly entranced.

            "The Seventh and Eighth Mages are not with us," Jandegar announced, and Lucca thought, _'Duh.'_ The young scientist caught Tarreiz rolling her eyes with exasperation and her opinion of the Mage instantly rose.

            Lucca tuned back in as Jandegar continued. "You are responsible for the disappearance of the Seventh Mage, and you will recover him for us."

            "We will do nothing of the kind!" Crono protested. "He tried to kill us!"

            "Nevertheless, it is your responsibility."

            "The Seventh Mage is dead," Marle said evenly, keeping her crossbow trained on the First Mage. "One of our companions killed him."

            Jandegar's look was pitying, almost as though he felt sorry that she didn't understand. "The Mages cannot be killed. They are only sent to an Otherworld."

            "You mean he could come _back_?" Lucca demanded. "Damn it all! I thought he was finally dead!"

            Crono was the only one to have noticed Schala's expression. "You knew, didn't you?" he asked. "…Schala?"

            "Yes," the princess admitted finally. "Janus and I both knew."

            "Then maybe…" Crono let his voice trail away. Maybe Kelke had taken Frog with him. Perhaps their companion wasn't dead after all! If they found Kelke, it stood to reason that they would also find Frog.

            "You will come with us," Jandegar stated.

            "Oh, hey!" Marle protested. "I don't mind helping you, but we have our own battles to fight. Literally."

            Tarreiz said calmly, "In return for your aid, the Mages will each give to you an item to aid you in your fight against Lavos."

            "Oh _will_ we now?" demanded Jandegar, turning on her. "That's certainly news to me!"

            "They fight the same evil as do we, Jandegar," Tarreiz pointed out. "Besides, _you_ would not do something for nothing. How badly do you want their help?"

            "We're not all so convinced that Kelke will find his own way out of the Otherworld."

            "Then perhaps you ought to learn to have more faith. Until then, it is this way or it is nothing."

            "In order to collect the items from the Mages," said Jandegar smoothly, "you will require a guide. I am quite sure that Tarreiz would be more than happy to suffice."

            The Mage of Vision started to say something, then backed off with an annoyed sigh, sensing that she had already pressed Jandegar too far. Smirking slightly, Jandegar turned back to Crono and his friends. "It will be as Tarreiz has said. Will you give us your assistance?"

            "I'm in," was Marle's response. "I mean, if they're going to give us these items…"

            "We need all the help we can get," Crono agreed. "Robo?"

            "I would be pleased to assist the Mages," Robo answered. "Especially in return for some things that may help us against Lavos."

            "Then that's a yes. Ayla?"

            "Ayla help funny hungry man!"

            "…I suppose that's a yes, too. Lucca?"

            The young scientist considered, nodded. Crono smiled and turned to Schala. "You're the last. Do you agree to help the Mages?"

            "It's not really my place to say…" began Schala.

            "Schala, I'm asking your opinion. You're a part of this group now, too."

            "Then yes. We should do this."

            Crono nodded, glanced at Jandegar. "We'll help you in return for these items."

            "Excellent," was Jandegar's response.

            "Wait!" cried Lucca. "Can we have some time – " But she was too late; their world was already fading.


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: Yeah, by the way, I forgot to mention this. I don't own the Crono Trigger characters. I _do_, however, own the seven Mages that you've already met (including the infamous Kelke Peatsar). Chapter Two - Altrisiac 

"- To pack," Lucca finished. She glanced around with a sigh. "I suppose not."

            The others of Crono's group hadn't noticed her words, they were too busy staring around. They stood in a high room with many chandeliers scattered around the place. Coloured lights shone in from eight stained-glass windows, causing the floor to be entirely covered with them, overlapping in places and sometimes causing more colours to be created. Crono noted gold, orange, red, purple and blue before dropping his eyes to the table, surrounded by eight chairs, in the centre of the room.

            "This place is beautiful," Marle whispered.

            "Words don't even do it justice," Crono agreed. "A place like this has to be seen, not described, in order to get the full effect. …What _is_ this place?"

            "You are standing in the Chamber of the Mages, in Altrisiac," Ciaruse explained in her beautifully melodious voice. "This is where we meet to discuss what must be done."

            "Speaking of which," Jandegar broke in sharply, "it would be best for you to get on with it. The Mages do not have a lot of time. Tarreiz? I presume that you will drop by to collect the items on your way to the mouth of the Otherworld, and retrieve the others on your way back with the Seventh Mage."

            "Yes, of course," was the smooth response. "In that case, we may as well begin with you. Jandegar? The items were chosen and enchanted a long time ago."

            "Indeed." Jandegar moved to Schala, removing his gold necklace as he did so. "Schala, this is for you. It will strengthen your magic, although you hardly need that, as well as giving you control over the magical spell SunLight."

            "Thank you," Schala responded a little uneasily, not sure if she entirely wanted it but aware that she could hardly refuse it. Accepting the necklace, she moved with a reluctance that was scarcely noticeable to put it on. It hung strangely around her neck, and she wondered what she was getting herself into. She didn't really want anything to do with the Mages.

            "Tarreiz? You should go now."

            "Yes, I am going," was the irritable response as Tarreiz moved to Crono and his friends. "It would be easier to transport you directly out of Altrisiac, but I think that you would prefer to walk through it," she remarked with a slight smile, seeing by their expressions that she was correct.

            "…Tarreiz?" called a voice that Marle was beginning to hate.

            "_Yes_, Ciaruse?" queried Tarreiz neutrally.

            "Be quick to fetch the Seventh Mage, and hurry back," Ciaruse advised them.

            "Yes, we'd better hop to it and get Kelke," Crono agreed readily. "I mean, we can wander through Altrisiac, but once we're out of it, then we should make haste and get him safely back for Ciaruse."

            "Oh yes, let's do everything for _Ciaruse_," remarked Marle with mock brightness. "Of course. Let's bend and scrape at her feet, too, shall we? I don't know, Crono, why don't you marry her if you love her so much?"

            "Well actually – " Crono began.

            "I don't want to hear this!" Marle shrieked, storming off.

            "Come on, Crono," Tarreiz advised him and, taking his arm, moved him forcefully out of the room. "Marle?" she called once they were out of hearing distance of the Chamber of the Mages. "Trust me, Crono meant nothing by that display, and in fact there was nothing that he could do about it."

            "What do you mean by that?" Marle demanded, although she stopped to turn to them.

            "Ciaruse is a Siren and seduces men by nature. She does not know how not to. Her speaking voice alone has a noticeable effect, but you are very lucky that he has not heard her sing."

            "I don't like Ciaruse," commented Crono with a small but visible shudder. "I would _not_ care to repeat that experience."

            "I will attempt to ensure that you do not," Tarreiz said. "Marle, you are also going the wrong way. It would be better for you to follow me."

Once out of Altrisiac, Tarreiz gave a small explanation.

            "The Seventh Mage is in no need of your aid. Indeed, he makes his way out of the Otherworld even as we speak. To keep you occupied, we will travel to the territories of the Mages and collect the items that are necessary. There will be an item for each of you, with the exception of Crono, who will find his in your own universe."

"Because Crono just has to be different," Lucca teased.

Tarreiz continued. "There are seven Mages and seven territories. Jandegar's is that area that includes Altrisiac, and I'm very glad that we have already collected his item because you may have guessed by now that I'm not particularly fond of the man. Kerrelei's is next. We can collect both her item and Jhyskar's at about the same time. Their territories are next to the other's and their preferred cities, Quandria and Quaren respectively, well within a day's walking distance."

            The Mage paused. "You have already encountered Tarkyn's territory. The Forest belongs to him, and within that, Synalair and the Grove. I will take you to the Grove, but I will not enter it."

            Lucca and Marle exchanged a meaningful glance. The entire group knew that Tarreiz had had her heart broken, or something close to it, sometime in the past, but Marle had shared with Lucca her theory that Tarkyn was responsible for it.

            "I am required to take you back to Jeraska in order to give you my item. Lucca, you will need to carry this. You will understand once we arrive. The only thing left is to travel to the Island of the Sirens, but we will speak of that when we must. Are we agreed?"

            Crono and his friends exchanged quick glances and nods. "We're agreed," Crono responded for the group as a whole. 

            "Very well. It may take us up to two weeks to reach Quandria if we walk, provided that the weather is good. If it snows, then we may be further delayed."

            Lucca shuddered. "I remember this place. It's always so _cold_,"

            "Indeed," Tarreiz observed. "Come. The sooner we set out, the sooner you'll get warm. We move for Quandria, and allow the Seventh Mage to travel as he will."


	3. Chapter Three

Hey!

I've been away for quite some time but I'm semi-back now. School's getting in the way and will keep doing so, so you can expect my posts to be more erratic than ever. Thanks to all of you who have held on for so long, and by that I mean putting up with the three stories and my tendency to be disorganised! 

I plan to get back into it a little more and at least finish writing this story. Until next time, please enjoy!

Enjoy or I'll hit you with a baguette!

- Imania

Chapter Three – The Otherworld

The Seventh Mage gave a groan and wondered if he were dead.

Kelke Peatsar lifted his head to look around, but didn't understand a whole lot of what he saw. Brown. Red. Hot. He hated the heat. Perhaps he was in hell? He _was_ the Shadow Mage, after all. It was fitting.

"Why does hell have to be so _nasty_?" he asked himself. Nothing answered, a fact for which he was somewhat grateful.

Kelke rose gracefully to his feet. Well, that was the theory. In practice, it didn't work like that at all. He more staggered up, and even then it was only half up before something gave out and he collapsed back to the ground. Winded, he waited until he had managed to get his breath back before giving it a second go. Not graceful that time either, but at least there was more of an 'up' involved.

On his feet, the Shadow Mage had more of a look around, then focused closer to home to check that he was all there. He was wearing his black robes, and he wondered why. They were ripped. On closer inspection, he decided that it looked like someone had stabbed him in the stomach with something big and sharp. Bemused, he felt for a similar hole in his skin but found nothing. Something had attacked him, but he'd healed. Magus. Magus had attacked him. That wizard had set something green on him. Something green and very sharp. Broccoli? Peas? Beans? No, not that, and the prospect of food was making the Mage hungry. He had to stop thinking like that.

He wandered around and tripped over something. Something green. Magus' pet frog, that was it. Kelke studied it, wondering if you could eat frogs. Not raw, he finally decided, but it was a near thing. The problem was, what should he do with it if he wasn't going to eat it? He couldn't leave it here. No. Not in this heat. Couldn't carry it with him – too heavy. No time to hang around and wait for it to wake up of its own accord. He'd have to heal it, then. It was the only way. It would take a lot of his already depleted strength out of him, but it was probably worth it.

He knelt by the frog, touching it lightly, and, closing his eyes, tried to concentrate. The magic that was closest to hand was that of the Shadow, utterly _not_ suitable for healing. The magic that was best for that was harder to touch, but he thought he managed all right.

The frog's eyes opened and an instant later it was up. "What art thou doing, Mage?" Frog demanded.

"Oh, hey, I ask thee, is that a nice way to treat someone who's just saved thine pathetic life?" Kelke complained, rising to his feet again.

"What hath thou done with the Masamune?" was Frog's next question.

"The what? That nasty sword? There are no nasty swords around the place. Just you and me. And a lot of rocks."

Frog studied the Mage suspiciously. "What didst thou mean about saving mine life?"

"I healed you."

"Thou hath the power to heal?"

"Don't look so surprised! I was a Sorcerer long before I was a Mage, and _any_ decent Sorcerer ought to know how to heal," Kelke scoffed. "Now, are we just going to stand around here all day, or do you actually want to get some work done?"

"What doth thou mean?"

"What, art thou as thick as a brick? Do you see that mountain, all the way over there?"

Frog studied it. "Yes."

"That's where we're going. That's how to get out of the Otherworld. Unless, of course, you really want to stay here…" said Kelke, turning away.

"No. Not particularly."

"In that case, let's get going. Come on."

"Art thou suggesting a truce of some kind, Mage?"

"Doth thou really think I'm going to throw thee off a cliff? It's easier to get out of here working together, rather than by yourself." At least, Kelke presumed that it was so. "For your information, I'm going to kill you _after_ we've gotten out of here, unless you can convince me otherwise."

The trek was tiresome after the first half hour. Frog was already thoroughly sick of the sharp yellow rocks over which they walked. He remembered that he and his friends tended to talk to while away the long hours of travelling, and he ventured, "How didst thou become a Mage?"

"Art thou trying to get into mine head, Frog? Understand the enemy, and all of that?"

"Take it as thou will. I was merely curious."

"Yeah, sure. We don't usually talk about the Mages."

Frog, sensing something in Kelke's tone, waited patiently. He was rewarded with, "But seeing as you asked, you're going to get the story of _all_ of the Mages. I'm seventh, so you get me last."

"Very well."

"Jandegar's the first. The Mage of the Sun. He's… arrogant, tiresome, too proud, and stuck in his ways. The oldest of us all, of course. Watch out for that rock, it doesn't feel too stable. He was the youngest son of a Lord and kept having dreams about some place to the west of where he lived. He was indulged, of course, because nobody cared about the _youngest_ son. It took real courage for him to strike out alone, and a lot of strength to build Altrisiac by himself. He was the first one with the vision, the first one to know how Altrisiac should look. He managed to get in touch with his power at the same time." Kelke was leading and Frog didn't see his smile, but it came across in his voice. "Altrisiac is beautiful. You should see it."

There was a short silence. "Anyway," said Kelke abruptly, "Jandegar helped all of us get in touch with the Mage power. Well, except for Tarreiz, of course. He's changed now. Changed in a way I find quite delightful. So… twisted. So ripe for corruption."

"Surely thou wouldst not work thine evil on the First of the Mages," Frog said disapprovingly.

"I don't need to. Jandegar will ruin himself quite satisfactorily." Kelke shook his head and said darkly, "He bears some watching, that one, but most of the others don't realise. They'll come to see in time, but perhaps too late."


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four – The Universe of the Mages 

Again, Tarreiz was responsible for acquiring suitable clothing before they set out. The group walked for an hour or so before Crono stopped dead.

            "Tarreiz, could you use magic to transport us to where we need to go?"

            "To most of the places, yes," the Mage of Vision responded.

            "Then why don't you?"

            "I thought that you would never ask," Tarreiz laughed and complied.

            The city in which they found themselves was nice enough, but nothing special. Water figured largely, with fountains everywhere and a river running through the city itself, splitting it in two almost equal halves. There were too many bridges to count connecting the two halves. Tarreiz led them to a square, in the middle of which was a pool of water. Kerrelei was seated at the edge of this, running her hand through the water, but she glanced up at them and smiled.

            "Tarreiz. Is it time?"

            "It's time."

            Kerrelei nodded, rose to her feet, glanced around at them. "Do you know me? I'm Kerrelei, the Second Mage, the Mage of Water. Very pleased to make your acquaintance."

            Crono quickly introduced the members of his group. "Yes," said Kerrelei almost absently. From a pocket she took a small disc. "This is for you," she told Robo. "It's a program that will strengthen your magical and physical defence, as well as allowing you free use of a laser attack that I like to call WaterFall. I hope that it will come in handy for you."

            "Thank you," Robo answered politely and gave it to Lucca, who quickly installed it.

            Kerrelei smiled again. "Please, spend some time in the city. I quite like it."

            Tarreiz intervened before anyone else could say anything. "The day is yet young, Kerrelei, and we will need to walk to Quaren. I hope to make it there before nightfall."

            "There to meet with Jhyskar. Will you be staying the night there?"

            Tarreiz hesitated, spoke reluctantly. "I'll not take them to the Forest in anything but the afternoon."

            "Ah." There was an uncomfortable silence before Kerrelei offered, "I could take them to the Forest for you."

            "No. I wish you could, but only I can lead them to the Grove itself. None of you could even find it."

            "That's true enough."

            "Well," Tarreiz began so cheerfully that the others knew there was something wrong, "we will be off, then. Thank you for your co-operation."

            "Any time." Kerrelei smiled at them, adding, "We're not _all_ as difficult as Jandegar or Ciaruse."

            "Indeed." Tarreiz turned to Crono and the others. "Come, you heard what I said. Quaren by nightfall."

            "Wh-_tsch_!" said Lucca, making the sound of a whip. "Slave driver."

            "Only when it's necessary," Tarreiz responded. "Do you want me to whup you in a snowball fight? Well? Do you?"

            "Not if it's six against one!" Schala answered and a random snowball fight broke out amongst the group. This time it was Crono's group against the two Mages, Tarreiz and Kerrelei, who lost miserably.

            "Who's whupping who now, eh?" Lucca challenged, reaching to help Tarreiz up from the snow where Schala had pushed her down.

            "At least I have dry clothes on," Tarreiz answered, accepting her hand.

            "What?"

            Tarreiz grinned wickedly and put the handful of snow that she held down the back of Lucca's jacket. The young scientist shrieked and pushed the Mage back down again.

            "Tarreiz, play fair," Schala warned. "And play in character while you're at it."

            "Oh, she can be quite mischievous if you get her in the right mood," Kerrelei told them cheerfully, a fact that they actually knew from the previous adventure. Tarreiz had always been a little cold to Lucca, who at the time had been jealous of the attention paid to her by Magus, but the others enjoyed her company.

            The Mage of Vision got to her feet by herself, brushing snow off of her clothes, and nodded to Kerrelei. "With any luck, Kelke and I will see you in Altrisiac."

            "Yes, indeed," Kerrelei responded and, smiling at the others, disappeared.

            "To Quaren," Tarreiz instructed.

            "Wait, wait," Marle cautioned, holding her hands out in a halting gesture. "Can we stop somewhere for lunch first? I don't know about anyone else, but I'm kinda hungry!"

            "Food?" said Ayla eagerly. "Ayla hungry! We eat now! Yes?"

            Tarreiz gave an exaggerated sigh. "Who is running this show?"

            Crono thought about this for a moment, pointed to Schala. "She is, actually. When you think about it carefully."

            "Either me or Alfador," Schala responded cheerfully. She had been carrying the cat this whole time, although Magus had entrusted him to Lucca's care, not Schala's. Nobody thought that Magus would really mind if his beloved sister looked after the cat instead.

            "We will stop for lunch," Tarreiz informed them as though the notion was distasteful, "and then we will continue on our way. You had better eat _quickly_."

            "Is it possible that you could choose the place, please?' Robo asked her politely. "The last time that nourishment was consumed by the humans here, it had been drugged and Lady Marle was taken."

            "Just Marle will do fine," Marle corrected him (although her name was Nadia anyway, so what did it matter?).

            Tarreiz nodded, ignoring Marle. "You do have a point. If you had known _anything_ about Jeraska, you would not have chosen _that_ particular inn."

            "Hey, we're new to town," Crono shrugged. "Point us in the direction of some tasty but not too expensive food and we're _there_!"

            They dined (okay, they lunched) at a rather nice inn and were given their meals free simply because the innkeeper wanted to please the Mage. As a matter of fact, he fell over himself to ensure that they were comfortable and happy, which apparently included trying to marry his eldest daughter off to Crono. He declined. Repeatedly. When they eventually managed to get themselves out of Quandria, it was only to find that they ended up in Quaren an hour or so later.

            "Good work," Tarreiz murmured absently as she led them through the city. It looked greatly similar to Quandria, only there were more people here. The people first scattered out of the way of the Mage and then turned to stare as she and the strange people with her walked past.

            Jhyskar was waiting for them. "Tarreiz!" he said in cheerful greeting, acknowledging his fellow Mage first much as Kerrelei had done. "Fancy meeting you here. Just happened to think you'd drop by?"

            "We were passing through, and I figured I may as well let you meet this lot properly," Tarreiz answered, although all of them knew very well what was actually going on. "Jhyskar, this is Lucca. You have something that she would rather like in her possession."

            "Of course, of course." Jhyskar moved to the young scientist, twisting a ring off of his finger as he did so. He held this out to her. "Take it," he urged as she hesitated. "There's no obligation for it. I won't be showing up later and demanding payment for it. This will strengthen your magic and give you control over something I like to call spontaneous Combustion. A little spell I happen to quite enjoy. Okay, so Combustion isn't exactly _little_," he acknowledged. Taking her hand, he dropped the ring into her palm and closed her fingers over it. "You don't have to wear or keep it if you don't want to."

            "I'll keep it," Lucca told him. This was the first time she had really met Jhyskar, but she liked him already. "It could come in very handy. Thank you."

            Jhyskar inclined his head to her in acknowledgement before glancing over at Tarreiz. "Jandegar says there's something you're not telling us. He says this group is missing two members."

            "One I cannot touch," Tarreiz responded. "Wherever he has gone, I cannot find him. The other, the wizard, travels. Neither is important here. Neither will cause Jandegar, or anyone else, any concern."

            "You know where Magus is?" Lucca demanded.

            Tarreiz glanced at her, nodded. "He is well and he thinks of you frequently, with longing in his heart. That is all that I can tell you. Janus will return to you, Lucca." The Mage lifted her eyes to Schala's. "To both of you."

            "What now, Tarreiz?" Jhyskar asked curiously.

            "I thought we would spend the night here, if that's quite all right with you."

            "You'd stay here if I wanted you to or not. …And then to the Grove?"

            "To the Forest, yes."

            Jhyskar studied her almost compassionately for a moment. He began, "If you want, I can – "

            "I can travel to the Forest without you there to hold my hand," Tarreiz snapped back. "Jandegar assigned to me this task and I am going to complete it no matter what. It isn't the Forest that bothers me, anyway. That's only a lot of mindless wood. The Forest means nothing to me."

            "All right, all right! I was only trying to be helpful."

            "I'm not a child, Jhyskar. I don't need any of you to protect me from anything. Now, if you'll excuse me, we have work to do."

            "Mindless wood?" Marle asked of the Mage as they followed her once again through the streets of the city.

            "When you see the Grove, you will understand," Tarreiz responded bluntly.

            Marle nodded, thinking to herself, _'And with any luck, I'll understand more than just the wood.'_


	5. Chapter Five

Author's Note : It's going to be a long one, people. 

I'm not exaggerating.

I've finished writing it and it is long. Longer than the other two. Now, if I told you it was longer than the other two put together, I would not only be exaggerating but also _lying_. But it's long. I'll tell you that. Long-winded. And long. And just generally long.

Please, just hang in there. There's a party at the end. With sweet water. And lots of it.

A short refresher course in my desperate attempt to justify Magus being so incredibly out of character. He's trying to stop being antisocial and learn to get along with people. Besides, he has his sister and his cat. He's happy. Okay? Bear that in mind for when he comes back in… um… lots of chapters' time.

And another thing – there is _always_ another thing when it comes to me – thanks heaps to my reviewers. That'd be wingnut, Jynxfreak Neo, Azalai, Yuffie-Girl and Unachieved Nirvana. You guys make me feel all warm and fuzzy! I just love reviews, but who doesn't? Thanks again!

Chapter Five – The Otherworld 

"Kerrelei and Jhyskar. They have to go together. They always have."

            Frog nodded a little distractedly, eager to get going. "Art thou rested, Mage?"

            "You were the one who suggested that we stop," Kelke pointed out acidly, getting to his feet.

            "Yes, that is true."

            Frog had only suggested the rest in order for Kelke to recover. The path had become both rockier and thinner, surrounded on both sides by some sort of lava, and the Mage of Shadow didn't appear to be taking it well. Frog wasn't sure what was wrong, but he didn't want to have to ultimately leave the Sorcerer behind. He couldn't have said why he was so determined to help Kelke get out as well, considering the evil wizard had tried to kill Frog and his friends. Kelke had, apparently, saved his life back there, and Frog was determined to pay back the debt.

            Then again, if it weren't for the Mage, Frog wouldn't have been there in the first place.

            "Where was I?" Kelke continued as he once again took the lead. "Kerrelei and Jhyskar, that's right. Water and Fire, respectively. Second and Third Mages, you know. Siblings. _Very_ close siblings. Sometimes we wonder if they're a little _too_ close. If you get my meaning."

            "I would prefer not to do so," said Frog stiffly.

            "Have it your way," Kelke shrugged. "They're only a year or so apart in ages. Kerrelei is the oldest. Their family tended to prefer to keep to itself. Quite self-sufficient, I hear. Their father was an excellent farmer. Their mother was rich. They grew their own food and made occasional trips into the closest town for material to make clothes and such. Kerrelei was twenty-three – that makes Jhyskar twenty-two, if you're wondering – when they were called to Altrisiac. At least they had a place to go to. Unlike Jandegar, who built it all himself. …How you doing back there?"

            "I am coping, and thou?"

            "I'll get by. Why does it have to be so damned _hot_ in here? I'd be all right if it weren't for the _heat_! How long have we been walking, anyway?"

            "I would make it three minutes, at the most."

            "I meant in total," Kelke snarled.

            "In that case, I do not know."

            "Typical. Typical. Anyway, so the two of them went to Altrisiac and Jandegar taught them the basics of how to use their power. He also got it wrong. When Tarreiz showed up, she set them straight, and of course I needed very little teaching… but Tarreiz comes later. Next week on everyone's favourite show, _The Mages_. I'm several days after that. …How much do you know of the Mages themselves? In general?"

            "I must confess to a large degree of ignorance."

            "You know there are seven of us? There's meant to be eight, but the eighth obviously hasn't been called yet. It usually happens in dreams. The calling."

            "Is it possible for thee to describe that in greater detail?"

            "No, actually. It's… really quite difficult to talk about. I think it was a little different for each of us. Jandegar had to be shown the way in which Altrisiac would be made, of course. The others only had to be told how to get there. It's like… well, it's a call. Like you're being guided to the only place in which you'll ever belong." Kelke laughed bitterly. "I haven't found it yet. I'm not welcome in Altrisiac. For some odd reason, people don't like the idea of hanging out with evil. Don't get me wrong. I'm not asking for your pity. I don't need that. It's just… Frog! Watch out!"

            Thanks to that warning, Frog was on his guard when the twisted creature fell on him. The swordsman reached instinctively for the Masamune, but of course it wasn't there. He thrust a hand out in the hope of finding a suitable rock, but his fingers touched instead the smooth, cold hilt of a small dagger. Snatching this, he drove it into the beast, which was enough to make it at least get off of him. The creature was not used to being attacked and, after being stabbed a couple of times, fell back a little. Frog made use of rocks as projectiles until the beast slunk off.

            With that done, Frog looked around for the Mage. "Thou might have helped!"

            Kelke did not look as though he would be helping anyone any time soon. He was down on one knee, also using his hands to support himself, and appeared to be having some trouble breathing. Frog went to him, concerned. "Kelke? What is wrong?"

            "Magic is so much harder here," Kelke rasped. "And I am drained already."

            Frog could do nothing but wait. Kelke took only a few minutes out before getting unsteadily to his feet. "I'm fine," he snapped irritably at Frog, who had risen with him. The Mage ran one hand through his blonde hair, then nodded to the dagger that was still in Frog's hand. "Usually, my blades are of better quality, but this was the least I could do for the time being."

            "Thou created this dagger?"

            "Where else would it have come from? Daggers don't appear out of thin air. Swords are my speciality. Maybe I'll show you one day." Kelke glanced up at the mountain that seemed so far away. "If we ever get out of here."

            "When. _When_ we get out of here," Frog corrected him. He personally could not wait to leave this place.

            "Your optimism sickens me, it really does."

            "There is always a time for hope."

            "I don't see it that way. Hope is quite useless, if you ask me. It gets nothing done."

            "That is a very sad way to live."

            "You know nothing of the way I live," Kelke pointed out quite rightfully. "Anyway, these little discussions are getting us nowhere."

            "Art thou ready to continue?"

            "Art thou concerned about me, Frog?" Kelke mocked. "I can look after myself, thank thee mightily. I've been doing it all my life."

            "I _am_ concerned about thee, Mage. Thou said it thyself. We stand a better chance if there are two of us. Besides, thou art the one who knowest to where we travel and how to reach our destination."

            "You need me," said Kelke doubtfully.

            "Yes. I need thee." It was probably true, and if it got Kelke going again, then so be it. The sooner they started off, the sooner they were out of the Otherworld.

            "Well, in that case," was the Seventh Mage's almost bright response, "let's get going!" 


	6. Chapter Six

****

Author's Note : Magus in four chapters! I promise! My beta-reader, Jynxfreak Neo, has offered me some suggestions so a few little things will eventually be changed, like the description of the Mages. I'll just have to wait until school gives me a break so I can concentrate on more important things, like writing!

Chapter Six – The Universe of the Mages

Schala was feeling particularly bright when she woke that morning and decided that if she was up, everyone else had to be up as well. For some reason, the others didn't seem to share this sentiment.

"I had been going to let you sleep in," Tarreiz admitted as she wandered into the room Crono, Lucca and Marle had been sharing, "but Schala obviously had other plans."

"Oh…" Marle sighed, gazing out of the window. "It was so warm in that bed, and it's so cold outside…"

"You never let us sleep in," Lucca said to Tarreiz, her voice faintly accusing. "Is there anything wrong?"

"No." The Mage's response was perhaps a little too quick. "Nothing wrong at all. But you may feel free to take your time with dressing. Likewise, we can all linger over breakfast."

"You're trying to put something off, aren't you?" the scientist questioned.

"You don't have to take us to the Forest," Crono told Tarreiz gently. "If you just transport us somewhere near it, we can walk there ourselves."

"I am _not_ unwilling to take you to the Forest," Tarreiz shot back angrily, although it was obvious that she was. "Anyway, none of you could possibly find the Grove by yourselves. Not even all of the Mages can find it, let alone enter it."

"Then how come you know where it is?" Marle asked, brushing her long hair in preparation to tie it back.

"I met – I was taken there once. Or twice. I can find it again. I will see you downstairs for breakfast," said Tarreiz as a way to excuse herself.

Marle waited until she had gone before turning to Lucca. "Tarkyn. You're so right. It _has_ to be him."

Lucca said modestly, "I know. No, seriously, it has to be Tarkyn. That's why she's so reluctant to go anywhere near the Forest, let alone the Grove. You're the only one who's really met Tarkyn, what is he like?"

"He struck me at the time as being very down-to-earth. Practical, and not afraid to get his hands dirty. The kind of person I could see Tarreiz being attracted to, actually. I accused him at the time of being a Mage, but he insisted that he wasn't. Obviously, he was lying."

When Marle was good and ready, thank you very much, the three of them wandered downstairs for breakfast, encountering the others there. Breakfast was a good, hot, hearty meal that warmed them all up, although Marle was still annoyed at being dragged out of bed.

"Is it _always_ cold here?" she asked Tarreiz, who nodded.

"Three seasons a year. The snow begins to melt during the fourth season, but it never gets very far before the weather turns cold again. We are actually going through the third season at the moment, which is one of the warmest."

Marle screwed her nose up. "This is _warm_?"

"Oh, yes. Quite warm, actually."

"Has everyone finished eating?" Schala broke in, eager to get going.

"Has Alfador been fed yet?" queried Tarreiz.

"Yes, I fed him while I was waiting for you lazy people," was Schala's response.

The Mage nodded distractedly. "I am sure that Ayla has not yet finished."

"Ayla full!" the prehistoric woman argued unexpectedly.

"She _did_ eat a whole plate of bacon," Marle pointed out. "And two bowls of porridge, and a lot of toast."

"Yes, thank you, Marle," was the acid response from Tarreiz. "While we are here in the warm, we should discuss the plan for the day. After we have visited the Forest, I thought we would go to Jeraska and spend the night there. The only place left after that is the Island of the Sirens. Crono, I will need to put a spell on you to momentarily block your hearing. I will remove this spell instantly after we have left the Island, but otherwise it is too dangerous. It does not matter how strong your love may be," she added, seeing Crono exchange a look with Marle. "Any man who walks the Island of the Sirens with no precautions will never be able to bring themselves to leave. I have seen it happen before."

Perhaps _that_ was it, thought Lucca privately. Maybe Ciaruse sang at Tarkyn, and he doesn't notice Tarreiz any more.

"For your information, it did _not_ happen that way at all," Tarreiz positively snarled at the scientist. "Tarkyn has _never_ shown any interest in Ciaruse."

There was silence at the table and, in fact, throughout the whole inn. Some of the other people there had been eavesdropping on the conversation, but the volume of the Mage's sharp comment hadn't required eavesdropping. Most of the people there had overheard and the ones that hadn't would soon know. Of course, only Lucca knew the context, but gossip about the Mages was popular and a lot of people suspected that something had happened between Tarreiz and Tarkyn in the past. It didn't help that those two were the most commonly seen of the seven.

"Not that I would care," Tarreiz muttered almost sullenly, dropping her eyes down to the table.

"After all," said Lucca, aloud because there was no point in thinking it if Tarreiz was just going to read her mind, "even the Mages are still only human."

"Let's just go to the Forest, shall we?" Schala said gently.

"Of course. If everyone has finished their breakfast, then I suppose that there is no point in remaining here," stated the Mage of Vision coldly.

"And no going into your shell," Schala scolded as the group rose. "Not when we took so long in making you finally act a little more warmly towards us."

Tarreiz waited until they were outside before transporting the whole group to a clearing in what was commonly known as Tarkyn's Forest. This was perhaps the only place in the whole of the country not touched by the constant snow. The ground here was covered with dirt, sticks and leaves, not the continuous, tiresome, wet, _cold_ snow that was pretty the first ten thousand times you saw it.

"Stay here," Tarreiz instructed the group. "I will take Marle to the Grove."

"Can't I come too?" Crono asked. "I don't like to let her go anywhere without me."

"Your loyalty is admirable, but no harm will come to Marle. Especially not here. Few can enter the Grove, but Marle is one of them."

Crono let her go, albeit with reluctance, and Marle followed Tarreiz through the Forest. Unable to take the silence, the young princess asked, "What makes the Grove so special?"

"I honestly could not say," Tarreiz responded. "Only Tarkyn could give you the answer to that question. The Grove is beautiful in its own particular way, and I only wish that I could still see it as you will."

It was not much longer after that statement that Tarreiz stopped and gestured Marle forward. "I will wait here for you. You must enter the Grove alone."

"You can't go into it?"

"I could, but I choose not to."

"Ah," was Marle's understanding response, and then she moved forward into the Grove.

Instantly the colours that surrounded her became more vibrant, more alive. The trees almost seemed to be whispering to each other, although she thought that maybe it was only the wind. There was, indeed, a soft, gentle breeze that seemed almost to reassure her.

Tarkyn was seated calmly on a log and she smiled in recognition. He smiled back, patting a place on the log next to him, and she walked through the soft grass to sit next to him.

"This place is beautiful," she told him unnecessarily.

"The whole Forest is beautiful, Marle, if you can listen to it like some can," responded Tarkyn. He picked up an object from the grass and handed it to her.

She studied the quiver curiously, pulling an arrow out to study it before glancing at him quickly. "Are these – "

"They are made of wood from the Grove, yes," Tarkyn responded. "The tree wanted to help you. It lives still, but in a different manner. Perhaps you'll be able to hear it singing, if you listen carefully and for long enough. You will never run out of these arrows."

"Thank you." Putting the quiver down, she hugged him on impulse.

"It's the least I can do to help. Do you need any guidance to get you back to the others?"

"Maybe. Why don't you come with me anyway? I'm sure the others would like to see you again." Marle just wanted to see how Tarreiz would react to him, and he to her.

Tarreiz was waiting for them with her arms folded, not seeming much impressed. "Tarreiz," Tarkyn greeted her carefully.

"Tarkyn," she responded, then switched her gaze to Marle. "You are a slimy little creature, aren't you? Tarkyn, I can take her from here. Go back to your Grove."

"Where now? Jeraska?"

"Of course, where else? Go, and leave me to fulfil my task as _I_ will."

"All right. It was good to see you again, Marle," Tarkyn said to the princess and disappeared.


	7. Chapter Seven

Author's Note: Hey everybody! I'm sorry I haven't been updating but Year Twelve got SO crazy. Mid-year exams suck! Thanks heaps to everyone who has reviewed. That's wingnut, da Freak, Azalai, Yuffie-Girl, Unachieved Nirvana, kittykat, darth and Apocalyptic Teapots. You guys rock! 

Magus in chapter ten! I swear!

Chapter Seven – The Otherworld 

"Where am I now?" Kelke wondered. "Ah. Tarkyn, that's right, swiftly followed by Tarreiz."

            "Save thy breath for the journey, Mage," Frog advised, scanning the landscape ahead in an attempt to choose the easiest way. He was leading now, although he liked to check regularly that Kelke was still with him.

            "No way. I couldn't possibly keep quiet for that long. Besides, aren't you curious about the whole thing about Tarkyn and Tarreiz? Most people are."

            Frog hesitated. "I will admit to some degree of curiosity," he said finally.

            "Well, let me satisfy it by telling you a nice little love story. Once upon a time there was a boy named Tarkyn. His people were wanderers, but they always wandered somewhere in the north of the land and they liked to stay near the large and mysterious forest. They considered themselves its caretakers, or something like that. Anyway, Tarkyn was pretty much happy with his wandering life, along with his parents and a younger brother. One day, Tarkyn wandered all the way into the forest and found a special place all for himself. His people never saw him again, and soon enough, nobody saw his people, either. Nobody knows what became of the others. Perhaps they bred themselves into some other group. Maybe they just died. Whatever happened to them, Tarkyn was left all by himself. He didn't mind, when he eventually found out that they were all gone. He was enjoying his solitude."

            Kelke paused for a moment. Frog heard him breathing hard and carefully slowed his pace in a manner that the Mage didn't notice. After a moment, Kelke continued.

            "Tarkyn was called to the Grove long before he was called to Altrisiac. I couldn't say how long he lived by himself, he certainly took no notice, but on the same morning as he finally felt the call to travel to Altrisiac, a random girl appeared in the Grove. It was love at first sight, I hear. Tarkyn could have lived out the rest of his life with his lover in the Forest, but that was the problem. He knew he was something different, that he would never age and die whereas his girlfriend surely would. He ignored the call for almost a year, which is far longer than most of the rest of us, but then he knew he had to go. He broke it off with the love of his life – who didn't take it at all well – and then moved to Altrisiac. Imagine, if you can, his mixture of surprise, shock, and horror when Tarreiz herself showed up there barely two weeks later."

            Frog could see where this was going. "She never forgave him for leaving her."

            "Got it in one. Tarreiz had already been very old when she first met Tarkyn, although she didn't look it. She had been a princess, the heir to the throne, of part of the country in the south. An only child. Her parents probably looked at the child they got and decided not to have any more in case they turned out as weird as the first. Her parents were killed in some tragic accident and Tarreiz took over as their Queen at the age of sixteen or so. She was liked. Respected. Very wise, and good at her job. However, someone with more battle experience, not to mention more war-hardened troops, that Tarreiz could ever throw at him in return, invaded her kingdom. In the end, she surrendered on the conditions that her people would not be slaughtered or enslaved and that they could continue to live in the fashion that they had all of their life. Her kingdom was very rich, which was why it was being invaded, and the invader couldn't see a reason to change anything provided all of the profit was going to him. He really should have killed her then, to squash any resistance from the people. Luckily for all involved, particularly Tarreiz, he recognised her talent for magic even then and let her go free."

There was another pause in order for Kelke to get his breath back, this one significantly longer. Frog asked, "Would thou like to halt for a rest?"

"No. I don't need a rest."

_'Like hell you don't,'_ thought Frog privately, but said nothing.

After a moment, Kelke continued. "She wandered, picking up all sorts of magical abilities, including some sort of second sight and very advanced telepathy. She was a very powerful sorceress in her own right and already knew that she would end up the Mage of Vision when she wandered by mistake into a very pretty part of the Forest – as in, the Grove – and met Tarkyn. They loved each other very much. They still do. Unfortunately, Tarreiz is too proud to admit how much he hurt her by breaking it off then, too proud to forgive him, and Tarkyn doesn't know how to say sorry. That's all they have to do. Just say sorry. You'd think it would be easy, but it's not. Definitely not for Tarreiz, who came to Altrisiac when the others needed her the most. She single-handedly taught them how to use their Mage-power. No wonder she's a little haughty at times. Tarreiz is, for me, the easiest to get along with. We share a common bond as the properly trained magicians of the group, both of us Sorcerers. Well, okay, she's a Sorceress, but you get my meaning. She also taught me a lot of things I didn't know. And if you tell anyone that, especially Magus, I swear I will hunt you down, roast you on a spit and then devour you with great relish, you nasty, jumped-up little amphibian."

"I am awfully fond of thee, too," Frog remarked dryly.

"Yeah, whatever."

There was a short pause. Frog finally broke this by saying, "We are approaching the mountain."

"We've been approaching the mountain ever since we started out, what makes this any different?" Kelke lifted his eyes from the path before him for the first time for a long time. "Oh. I see. Shouldn't be long now, then. Actually… it'd be easier to do it here."

"To do what here?"

"What did you expect to do once we arrived at the foot of the mountain, more correctly a cliff? You can't climb it. The walls are too smooth, too… vertical. What we need, my green friend, is a set of stairs. Courtesy of myself."

Without further ado, a set of stairs appeared in front of Frog, stretching all the way to the top of the cliff and therefore the way out of the Otherworld. He eyed them suspiciously. "They are black."

"I'm the Mage of _Shadow_," Kelke snarled back. "What colour were you expecting? Pink?"

Frog had to accept this point. "Are they solid?"

"No, I thought I'd make transparent stairs just for a laugh. Ha ha ha ha. Of course they're solid! Take them or leave them, but I'm warning you, it's the only way out of the Otherworld."

"In that case, I will take them. I thank thee, Mage, for creating this path out of the Otherworld."

"Hey, I want to get out of here every bit as much as you do," was Kelke's response. "So? Are we going?"

"We art going."

"Not long now at all, then," commented Kelke cheerfully. "Not long until you can see Altrisiac, and meet the others as well. Besides Tarkyn and Tarreiz, of course." He paused, then gave a short laugh.

            "What is so amusing to thee?"

            "Just our names. They come in sets of two. Tarreiz, Tarkyn. Jhyskar, Jandegar. Kerrelei, Kelke. And Ciaruse." Kelke paused as though to let this sink in before he continued thoughtfully, "I wonder how the Eighth Mage's name will be spelt?"


	8. Chapter Eight

Author's Note : Well, how's this? The next chapter a day later! Okay, I'm really just trying to get to the bits with Magus in them. He's so cool! Even if my version is slightly out of character! Two chapters to go! 

Thanks to my wonderful wonderful reviewers. You guys all rule!

-Imania

Chapter Eight – The Universe of the Mages 

Marle and Tarreiz found their way back to the others, who were waiting not so patiently. "We are making very good time," the Mage announced, "and can afford to spend several days in Jeraska, if you so wish."

            "Tarreiz…" Lucca began a little distractedly. "When you were talking to Jhyskar, you mentioned Magus. Why can't you tell me where he is?"

            "Because I do not know," Tarreiz responded honestly enough. "I have told you that he thinks of you and that he will return. What more do you want me to say?"

            "You really have no idea about where he is?" pressed the scientist.

            "No, I do _not_. Why is it so impossible for anyone to accept my words at face value? I would not lie to you about this matter, Lucca. I know how much he means to you, and you to him."

            "…I mean something to him?"

            "Of course you do. He would have left the group long before you even knew of Kelke's existence if you had not persuaded him to stay." Tarreiz glanced around at the others before returning her gaze to Lucca. "We can speak of this later if you would prefer to discuss it privately."

            "How do you know all of this?" Crono asked curiously.

            "I… picked up the ability somewhere along the way."

            "And who _taught_ you lot everything you know?"

            "I did. Mostly. Kelke himself did not require as much teaching, and Tarkyn was already comfortable with the Forest magic, but I practically had to start from the beginning with the others. This is getting us nowhere. Would you prefer to walk or be transported to Jeraska?"

            "Let me think about this," Marle began thoughtfully. "Would we like to trudge through damnable snow, or arrive at the city in an instant? …I think we'd like to be transported, if that's okay with you."

            "It is your decision," Tarreiz responded, and a few seconds later they were standing in a room in the Mage's house.

            "You are free to travel the city," Tarreiz told them, moving to a cupboard, "but I think that I will stay here."

            "Why?" Marle asked curiously.

            "Because I, personally, hate this place. I always have." The man who had invaded her kingdom had set his home base up in Jeraska. Tarreiz opened the cupboard, removed a mop, handed it to Schala. A broom was similarly without ceremony presented to Crono. Tarreiz leaned further into the cupboard only to emerge with a scythe.

            "Because we all keep scythes in our broom cupboards," Lucca commented.

            "I needed a place to put it, and the broom cupboard seemed the best." Tarreiz held it out to the scientist. "It is known simply as Calamity. The staff is made from a metal that will not burn nor melt."

            Lucca caught the slight smile tugging at the Mage's lips and knew that Tarreiz was having a go at her for setting Magus' scythe on fire once or twice. "Why are you giving it to me?"

            "It is for Janus, as you probably have guessed by now. You are to keep it for him."

            Lucca took it reluctantly. "Why does he need something with such an evil name?"

            "Janus' magic will always be dark, Lucca, but black magic does not always indicate evil. Black, white, magic is only magic. It is the way that it is used that makes it good or evil."

            "I think I'm going to throw up," Schala muttered. "That was _way_ too deep, Tarreiz. Here, have your mop back."

            "And the broom," Crono put in quickly.

            "Someone take a picture," Marle suggested. "It will probably be the only time we'll ever see Crono with a household cleaning implement."

            Lucca laughed with the others, but her mirth was a little distracted because she was studying the scythe. The blade appeared to be made from something black that was like nothing she had ever seen before. She hefted it experimentally. Lightweight, but strong.

            "We will spend the night here," Tarreiz declared, "and in the morning, we make for the Island of the Sirens."

As it turned out, the others didn't really want to hit the town either. Marle had been kidnapped from Jeraska, and none of them had particularly fond memories of the place. They breakfasted at the residence of Tarreiz before continuing on their way. Well, before preparing to continue, anyway.

            "Crono, I will need to remove your hearing here," Tarreiz warned him. "You are needed too much to be allowed to spend the rest of your life on the Island."

            "If Ciaruse sings at him, I'll kill her," Marle vowed darkly.

            "Lay a hand on Ciaruse with the intention of causing harm and I will be forced to punish you for it, Marle," Tarreiz countered quietly. "The same goes for the others, including, unfortunately, Jandegar. The Mages have many rules in order to keep the peace between us. For some reason, Kelke is the only exception. Jandegar wants nothing to do with him, therefore he is not welcome in Altrisiac, which seems to me completely unfair."

            "Um… okay… if Ciaruse sings at him, I will be extremely upset in her general direction. Is that better?"

            "I suppose I can allow that. Crono?"

            "I am _not_ looking forward to this," Crono admitted, allowing Tarreiz to touch him.

            "It is quite a simple spell, Crono, and I will remove it the instant we leave the Island. Are you ready?"

            "No, but do it anyway." While he was planning their major battles, Crono tended not to speak, but the inability to hear was new to him. Although it wasn't a major disability – he could still see, after all, and speak, even though he wouldn't be able to hear himself – it was unsettling and he didn't exactly like it. All the same, it was better than being sung at.

            Tarreiz transported them directly to a room that was all silver and quite pretty, but then the Mage hesitated. "I have no knowledge of this place," she admitted quietly, glancing around. "This is the second time in my entire existence that I have entered the Temple of the Moon. I suppose that we will have to find one of the priestesses and ask her to take us to Ciaruse. And it is not just me," she added, glancing at Marle. "Only Ciaruse knows her way around the Temple. None of the other Mages make a habit of coming here. We try not to spend too long in the territories of the others anyway, with the exception of Altrisiac."

            It wasn't too much later before a dark-haired woman wandered over and said something that none of them understood. "Ciaruse…?" Tarreiz hazarded helplessly. Lucca had never seen the Mage so much out of her element and understood then that the Sirens obviously had an entirely different culture.

            "An entirely different language, too," Tarreiz told the young scientist. "One that most of us have no hope of learning. I cannot sing at all and have practically no knowledge of music. The language of the Sirens is beyond me."

            The dark-haired woman obviously hadn't understood what Tarreiz had said either, apart from catching the name and forming a decision from that. "Ciaruse?" she queried, waiting for a nod of confirmation from Tarreiz before making a follow-me gesture. She led them through the Temple, in which water and the colour silver featured largely, before opening a door and gesturing them through.

            The Mage of the Moon was sitting on the edge of an elaborate water fountain, humming to herself as she made notes on a piece of paper. Tarreiz gave a small sigh of exasperation. It was going to be one of _those_ encounters. "Ciaruse?" she called impatiently.

            Ciaruse looked up at her. "Tarreiz. It's not often that we find you here. Or any of the other Mages, for that matter."

            There was a silence. "The item…?" Tarreiz prompted finally.

            Ciaruse only continued to look at her, sea-coloured eyes somewhat neutral. The Sixth Mage blinked once or twice, then gazed at something in the distance. Tarreiz made an exasperated noise.

            "When silver woman in same world as everyone else?" Ayla asked of the Mage of Vision.

            "Very rarely, Ayla. Very rarely."

            "Jandegar has a message for you," Ciaruse told Tarreiz finally.

            "Wrong station, Ciaruse. Could we possibly get to the item first?"

            "Oh yes," Ciaruse remembered. "I suppose that we can." She rose to her feet and, unclipping her silver cape, moved to Ayla. She held the cape out to the prehistoric woman. "This is for you."

            Ayla took the cape and, with a glance at Schala, said uncertainly, "Thank… you."

            Schala beamed. "I taught her that."

            "It will," said Ciaruse to Ayla, "give you the ultimate magical and physical defence. Hopefully that will be helpful to you. Or rather, unhopefully, because if it _is_ helpful, that means that you are fighting. And that wouldn't be a good thing."

            Ayla picked up on the word. "Fight? Ayla fight!" said the woman proudly. "Ayla fight Lavos!"

            "Oh. Well. If it pleases you, then do as you will." Ciaruse looked back to Tarreiz. "Jandegar wants you to return to Altrisiac now."

            "Can he not leave me in peace to fulfil the task he has assigned to me?" Tarreiz demanded angrily.

            "He told me to tell you that your task is officially over."

            "What of the seventh item?"

            Ciaruse shook her head. "I do not know. I'm just telling you what Jandegar said to tell you. He made me memorize it, and say it to him twice."

            "I can't just leave this lot on the Island of the Sirens," Tarreiz pointed out smugly.

            "Jandegar instructed me to put them on a ship and send them back to the mainland. He has it all worked out."

            "Yes, indeed he does," Tarreiz muttered. "I will have to remove the spell I put on Crono, but I don't want to do it here."

            "Why?"

            "Because one of your Sirens will sing at him by mistake."

            Ciaruse took something from a shelf and held it out to Crono, who had no idea what was going on as he couldn't lip-read but who took it anyway. "They won't if he's wearing the medallion."

            Crono looked mystified and shouted, "What?"

            Ciaruse took the medallion off of him and then placed it around his neck. "Take your spell off, Tarreiz."

            "Very well," said Tarreiz tightly in a manner that let them all know that she wasn't happy about it, and complied.

            "What are you doing?" Crono said to her loudly. "We're not – oh, I can hear myself. Sorry, I think I was shouting at you just then."

            "Yes, yes you were," Tarreiz informed him.

            "Anyway, what are you doing? I don't want to be sung at!"

            "Jandegar apparently wants me to return to Altrisiac. Ciaruse will take you to the port. She tells me that the medallion that you wear will grant you some measure of protection."

            "Oh." Crono smiled uncertainly. "That was nice of you," he said to Ciaruse.

            "I don't want you on my Island as much as Tarreiz doesn't," was the Mage's response. "Tarreiz, I will meet you in Altrisiac. Perhaps we can discover what Jandegar is planning together. Follow me," she said to the others and wandered out of the Temple. The others followed, Marle grasping Crono's arm possessively.

            Lucca's curiosity had been stirred by one of Tarreiz's comments and she asked Ciaruse about it. "Is it impossible to speak your language if you can't carry a tune?"

            "Yes," was the response. "The language is based on the degrees of the octave scale. The slightest nuance can give something a completely different meaning. I am told that it is very difficult to learn. The port is directly ahead of you. There will be a ship leaving in about half an hour. If you will excuse me, I have a meeting to which I should attend."


	9. Chapter Nine

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Author's Note : To be honest, zipis1, Lucca was only interested in the singing because I wanted to explain that the Sirens had a different language. Oh well…

Magus in chapter ten! That's _next_! I've already finished writing the entire story, it's just that I'm so slack that I rarely get my posts up to date. But anyway, Magus soon!

-Imania

Chapter Nine – Altrisiac

Tarreiz was not happy to be returning to Altrisiac and she let Jandegar know about it the moment she appeared in the Chamber of the Mages.

"You have some nerve, you really do!" she exclaimed, going angrily to her seat next to Tarkyn. "Calling me back here before I'm good and ready! You send me off on a task and then call me back willy-nilly as though I'm a pet… a pet… I don't know, a pet _something_. Well, I won't stand for it!"

"I am the First Mage," Jandegar countered calmly. "It is my right."

"Did you think of my charges? No, no you didn't!" Tarreiz shot back when he tried to say that he had. "If you _had_ been thinking, then you would have realised that it was not wise to leave them anywhere here, particularly not on the Island of the Sirens! Hardly anyone even speaks their language there!"

"Ciaruse does."

"Ciaruse is the most empty-headed, vague and generally useless woman in this entire universe, _and_ you know it! I wouldn't be surprised if she drowned them all by accident!"

"Ciaruse is _not_ that inept!" Jandegar argued angrily.

"She is too!"

"Children, please," Jhyskar cautioned, holding out his hands. "We have a serious matter to discuss. Is it too much to ask that we all refrain from arguing for the better part of an hour?"

"When Tarreiz is that disrespectful, then yes, it _is_!" Jandegar shot back, glaring at the younger but more powerful Mage.

"When you're not being so bone-headed, which in fact I have never known to occur, then maybe I'll stop pointing out the stupidity of some of your actions," Tarreiz responded coldly. "What are we meant to be discussing, anyway?"

"We will wait until Ciaruse returns," Jandegar said promptly.

Tarkyn explained wearily, "Jandegar wants to try to build the Barrier around this world without Kelke."

"Not possible," Tarreiz responded instantly. "I understand that it is necessary to construct the force-field in order to bounce Lavos off to an uninhabited world, but it is _not_ going to happen without Kelke. We need his power."

"I don't think we do," Jandegar argued. "We have survived perfectly well without him."

"Only because you insist on excluding him. His absence makes us work twice as hard. We _need_ his power in this, that's all there is to it. Anyway, we do not have long to wait before he brings himself out of the Otherworld."

"We can do it without him. We _are_ going to do it without him," Jandegar shrugged. "_That's_ all there is to it."

"All there is to what?" queried Ciaruse, having appeared in the room.

"To constructing the Barrier without Kelke."

Ciaruse's forehead wrinkled slightly. "What barrier?"

"What barrier, she says," Kerrelei muttered, resting her forehead on her palms. "We're all going to die."

"The Barrier that will bounce Lavos away from this world," Jhyskar explained patiently. He was sometimes the only one who could keep his temper with the Sixth Mage.

"Oh, that Barrier," Ciaruse shrugged dismissively and sat down at the table next to Tarreiz. The two empty chairs were Kelke's and the unused chair belonging to the Eighth Mage.

"Ciaruse has no problems with it," Jandegar pointed out smugly.

Tarreiz snapped, "Ciaruse would not know a problem if it jumped up and messed up her hair. Kelke is a Sorcerer, a magician as well as a Mage, and we need his power. I say again, we do not have long to wait."

"Jhyskar, did you ever end up finding those two who were missing?" Jandegar queried.

"No. Tarreiz said she couldn't find them, and if she couldn't, there's no way that I could," Jhyskar responded honestly.

"Oh well. Does anyone, apart from Tarreiz, have any major objections to having a try at the Barrier without Kelke?" Jandegar asked.

Kerrelei shrugged, shook her head. Jhyskar looked uncertain but said nothing. "I'm not sure," Tarkyn admitted.

"Jhyskar? Do you have any objections?" Jandegar asked.

"I guess not," answered the Mage of Fire.

"That's three against two. Tarreiz, we are going to attempt the raising of the Barrier anyway."

"This is not wise," Tarreiz muttered, but she moved to take her place anyway. Nobody had bothered to ask Ciaruse for her opinion. They had learned that it wasn't really worth it. She could sit on the fence for years sometimes.

Six of the Eight Mages went to stand under their respective windows, Jandegar under the yellow, Kerrelei under the blue and so on. Without further ado they began to pool their collective power. When they had enough, they would work together to stretch it over the world in a shield that would, with any luck, last for long enough to bounce Lavos off to somewhere else. They had already chosen a suitable world for him. It was a stopgap solution, but Jandegar planned to kill him eventually. Or so he said.

Tarkyn could feel from the start that something was going wrong, but he figured it was just because they didn't have Kelke and his own power as a Sorcerer, let alone a Mage, to support them. All of the Mages had some ability to sense the power of the others, although most of them couldn't say what belonged to whom. Tarkyn, however, knew exactly what Tarreiz' magic felt like and he knew she was using too much. He almost told her then to back off, but he knew she was compensating for Kelke's absence and he knew she wouldn't listen to him anyway.

They were halfway through when one of the Mages simply dropped out, withdrawing all of their power. Tarreiz, unthinkingly, compensated for that too.

The Mage of Vision cried out almost in pain and went down. Tarkyn instantly withdrew to go to her, and, unable to continue with it, the other three Mages who were contributing abandoned the project.

Tarkyn moved the other Mage over onto her back and, at a loss for what to do, checked for a pulse. A few seconds later he had worked out that Tarreiz was actually breathing, which gave him great relief.

"What happened?" Kerrelei demanded, dropping to her knees beside him.

"I don't know. Overuse of magic, I think, but I've never seen it happen to any of us before." Tarkyn lowered his voice. "Did you feel…?"

Kerrelei nodded grimly. "Yes. Someone deliberately withdrew, either knowing or guessing that Tarreiz would take their share of the magical burden without thinking twice. One of us is responsible for this, and I think I know who. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it because I have no concrete evidence…"

"Got him!" came a triumphant cry from Jhyskar. He glanced over at the others. "I've finally managed to find one of the two who were missing from the group Tarreiz was leading. Jandegar, do you want me to…?"

"Yes," Jandegar responded. "I do not think that any of us can do much for Tarreiz now. Go, and reunite him with the others."

"While Jhyskar's busy, Tarkyn, Ciaruse and I will try to do _something_," Kerrelei announced as her younger brother disappeared. "Come on, Tarkyn. You can carry her, right? Ciaruse, get over here. We have work to do."


	10. Chapter Ten

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Chapter Ten – The Otherworld

"Ciaruse is a Siren. You know what they are?"

"I have heard of the legends, yes," Frog responded, keeping his eyes on the stairs. He and Kelke had been climbing them for what seemed like hours and were finally getting close.

"Well, in this universe they're not… not legends. Completely different culture, and… practically everything else. Even language. Would've been fine… perfectly happy on their Island, if we hadn't… hadn't come to interfere."

"Kelke, keep thy breath for the climb. There is not much distance to go."

"Told thee before, the… the silence would kill me before lack of magic does," Kelke rasped. "Same race that… took over Tarreiz's kingdom… tried to do the same for the Island. The Sirens sang the soldiers to death. Drowned thousands of 'em. Don't blame the Sirens… I'd been in that position… I'd have done the same. Unfortunately for the Sirens, they… die on steel as easily as everything else. They reached an agreement. We don't walk on their land, they don't… walk on ours."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Ciaruse's entire family had been… Priestesses of the Temple of the Moon. High ones. All of them female. Don't ask me how that race reproduces. Something about… about lost ships. We 'trade' with them apparently, anyway. Sailors must… have a ball on that Island." Kelke gave a short laugh that turned into a cough.

Frog stopped, turned to him. "Kelke, we can rest."

"No. We can't. And that's the problem." Kelke waved a hand, indicating that Frog should continue walking. Against his better judgement, Frog resumed climbing the stairs.

The Shadow Mage fell into step behind him and, after a moment, picked up his narrative. "Ciaruse. Became a Priestess just like her family. She ignored… ignored the call for a very long time, because… simply didn't hear it. Made her way to Altrisiac eventually. I hear they… had a very hard time of it. She didn't speak our language. They'd never heard hers. She learned. Somehow. Ciaruse is… most problematic of the Mages… any heterosexual man who can carry a tune hears her sing… will never be free of her. Men have died for… for want of the love of Ciaruse. Me, I'm tone deaf. Completely. No ear for music. No idea of what sounds nice. Ciaruse's little songs don't… don't work on me. Never seen any sign of it in Jhyskar either. Tarkyn she understood early not to touch. Ciaruse is… more perceptive than… others give her credit for. Jandegar… poor fool… thinks he loves her."

Kelke began to cough again, stopped walking. Frog, noticing, turned again to face him. "Kelke, what is the problem? We are so close!"

"I'll never… never make that. I can keep the stairs long enough… for you to reach it. Go."

"I will not leave thee," Frog replied stubbornly.

Kelke narrowed his eyes. "I never asked for your company! Go!"

"Not now! Thou comest with me, or we will both remain here."

"Not more of thine stupid heroics! You don't have time for that. Go! Just go!"

"The other Mages need thee."

"Nobody needs me, and the Mages… Mages make a point of it," Kelke snapped back. "I can't keep the stairs forever! Do you want us to _both_ die?"

"Thou art coming even if I must carry thee," said Frog grimly. "Wouldst thou rather walk like a man or be dragged?"

"I would rather stay here and die alone! There's nothing… nothing to live for."

"Thine world has need of thee. If it were not so, then thou wouldst not be what thou art. Thou must have the strength for this, or thou wouldst not have been called along with the others."

"Thine compassion… compassion makes me sick," Kelke rasped with disgust.

"_There_ is the Mage we all know and do not trust," said Frog affectionately. "Come, hurry. Thou art correct in that we do not have much time."

In fact, the stairs were beginning to become distinctly more transparent with every passing moment. Frog hurried along, pressing Kelke as much as he dared. He was glancing back to make sure that the Mage was still there when he ran into a wall.

"Ow!" Rubbing his nose, Frog took a few steps back to gaze up. He could see clouds and sunlight above, but he couldn't reach the lip of the cliff by an irritating arm's length (and that was when he jumped). "Kelke! Thou art taller than I. Couldst thou reach the cliff?"

"I can't stand by myself, Frog, and I… could never drag you out."

"Couldst thou then raise the stairs just a few centimetres?"

"Kill myself for sure by doing that. I don't think… don't have the power for it anyway."

"I do not want to die!"

The Shadow Mage spread his hands in a gesture of defeat. "I can't do anything about it. I'm sorry."

Frog tried to climb up the cliff but it was too smooth. "Is there _nothing_ thou can do?"

At that moment, like a dark but still welcome angel, a figure appeared on the top of the cliff, cloak and hair swirling in the wind, reaching his hand down to Frog's. Frog took it and was hoisted out of the Otherworld.

"I have never been so grateful to see thee, Magus," the swords frog commented, turning back to gaze down at the Otherworld.

"It's nice to know that you still love me as much as ever, Frog," Magus responded sarcastically, reaching down again. "Kelke, take my hand!"

"I would rather die," the Shadow Mage snarled.

"Don't be an idiot!" Magus exclaimed with irritation. "You'd really prefer to die than to let me have one over you?"

"I don't need you! I don't need anyone!"

Frog rolled his eyes and jumped down again, dragging the Mage forwards. Magus leaned down further and, taking Kelke by the robe, dragged him onto the top of the cliff (perhaps a little more roughly than was truly necessary). He reached down to help Frog out again and no sooner had he taken hold of Frog's arm that the black stairs simply winked out of existence. Magus pulled Frog to safety.

"You saved my life," he told Frog, backing off instantly. "I've saved yours. We're even."

Frog nodded absently. "And the others? They art well?"

"You made us all very upset by being a hero back there, Frog," Magus scolded, carefully avoiding making mention of the fact that he had no idea how any of the others were.

"It is what I am. Thou should know that."

"Don't remind me," Magus sighed. "What happened to Kelke?"

"Thou couldst only ask that of Kelke himself."

Magus glanced over at his archenemy. "I don't think anyone's going to be asking anything of that wizard for some time."

There was a flash of red and Jhyskar appeared. He noticed Kelke instantly and moved forward almost protectively, demanding, "Who are you?"

"Magus," responded the wizard. He pointed at Frog, who gave the finger a wary glance but said nothing. "Glenn. The question is, who are _you_?"

"You don't need to know that." Jhyskar crouched down near Kelke to check if he was breathing. "First Tarreiz, now Kelke… you two are the ones who weren't with the main group, aren't you?" he asked with sudden recognition. "My name is Jhyskar. I am the Mage of Fire. How did you come to be here with Kelke?"

"I was in the Otherworld with him," Frog explained.

Jhyskar regarded him with surprise. "He brought you out of the Otherworld?"

"It was more of a collective effort, actually." Frog considered, added reluctantly, "Magus helped, but only a little."

"Very well," said Jhyskar somewhat absently. "Come, I'm sure neither of you want to stick around for much longer. I'll take you to Altrisiac, then go and fetch your friends."

"What's Altrisiac?" Magus asked blankly.

"Haven't you seen it?" asked Jhyskar, surprised.

"I have heard of it," Frog volunteered. "It is said to be beautiful."

Jhyskar smiled. "It is. You're definitely in for a treat."

****

Author's Note : And… that's Magus, people. He explains where he's been in the next chapter. I think. You'll discover a takeover of a kitchen and some more sweet water eventually…


	11. Chapter Eleven

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Chapter Eleven – The Chamber of the Mages, Altrisiac

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Author's Note: First of all, zipis1, as I forgot to tell you last time, Tarreiz isn't the leader because she's had enough of leading and because Jandegar won't hear otherwise. As the First Mage, he has decided that _he_ gets to be their leader, and if anyone argues then they'll probably get thrown out of Altrisiac. Ah, megalomaniac Mages…

All right, this is where you start moving into my own interpretation/opinion. You will definitely find out. As I stated previously, you don't have to agree with this, it's just my thoughts on the subject. Please don't flame me! It's just an idea!

Crono moved curiously into the room to which Jhyskar had led them, recognising it as the Chamber of the Mages. The Fire Mage had been grinning about something ever since he came to transport them to Altrisiac, saying only that he had a surprise for them. Several days had passed since Tarreiz had left them on the Island of the Sirens and they had been pretty much wandering around, lost, since then.

Alfador gave a mew of utter delight and loped past all of them. Crono was the second into the room and he stopped dead. Lucca, behind him, looked over his shoulder and gave a cry. She pushed past him to run to the blue-haired man with the cloak, giving him a big hug.

"I'm pleased to see you, too," Magus commented, hugging her back a little uncomfortably.

"Magus! Where have you _been_?" Schala scolded as she stalked over. "Leaving us all to worry over you that way!"

"Perhaps I should have written you a note," Magus remarked, easing Lucca away a little. He glanced down and smiled. "Alfador!"

"It's good to have you back with us," Crono said, smiling.

"Don't get all sentimental on me."

"Do I not get a welcome too?" protested the young man to whom Magus had been talking.

Lucca glanced at him. "Who are you?"

"It is I! Frog!" exclaimed Frog, most upset.

"_Frog_? But you're… you're not a frog!"

Frog – Glenn – looked blank. "I am not?"

"Have a look at your hands," Schala suggested gently.

Glenn looked down at his hands. They were human and did not contain a single trace of greenness. "I am not a frog!"

"That's wonderful!" Marle commented, going to him.

"I _liked_ being a frog!" Glenn complained. "I was getting used to it and everything! Why did Kelke have to go and turn me back into a human?"

"You don't want to be a human?" Lucca asked him with surprise.

"No wonder I could not reach that cliff. At least as a frog, I could jump decently! I think I will ask him to transform me back," Glenn decided.

"That'd be right," Magus sighed.

"Where have you been?" Lucca demanded of him. "Tell us everything!"

Sensing that they were in for a long bout of story telling, Crono suggested that they sit at the table. Magus took over Jandegar's seat, sensing that it was the seat of authority. (It was gold, after all.) Lucca sat next to him – Kerrelei's chair – with Ayla at Jhyskar's place, Marle at Tarkyn's, Frog sitting in Tarreiz's chair, Robo in Ciaruse's and

Schala (oddly, she felt, although she couldn't think why it should feel odd) in Kelke's. Crono took the last seat left, unaware of the significance of the eighth chair.

Waiting until they were all comfortable, Magus began to speak. "I left the Masamune at Cyrus' tomb before using something I've been working on lately to transport myself to this universe using magic alone. I then had to find the Otherworld – I'd decided to get Kelke out of the Otherworld, just to prove that I could, and I was pretty certain that Frog would be with him – and that was what took me so long. I just couldn't find it. I located it at last just in the nick of time to find Frog trying to get up the last half a metre or so of the cliff. I gave him a hand. After all, he'd saved my life, and there is no way I'm going to stay in debt to a _frog_ for long," he added with a slight glare in Frog's direction, because although Magus was mostly a good wizard now old rivalries die hard. When he turned back to the others, he was all smiles. "What have you lot been getting up to?"

The others took turns to tell him of their search for him, then of the Mages showing up and asking for their help Well… okay, _demanding_ their help. They showed Magus and Frog the items that they had been given. Then it was Frog's turn to speak (he insisted that they continue to call him Frog). He described the Otherworld for them and detailed his journey with Kelke up to the cliff.

"And that is about all," he concluded.

"Now that we're all together again," said Marle, looking about the group, "we can continue with what we were originally asked to do. That is, we can find the Eighth Mage."

"Can't we just go home?" Lucca complained.

"Speaking of the Eighth Mage," Magus began, leaning forward in a distinctly conspiratory fashion, "I did some thinking during my own journey – and you can just keep that comment to yourself, Frog – and I think I have a fair understanding of where we can find the Eighth Mage."

"Where?" Schala asked curiously.

"Here. In our own group."

"Impossible," Crono protested. "Someone would have noticed it by now."

"No, think about it," Magus protested, defensive of his theory. "Before this all began, Tarreiz told me that she'd help us because we had the Eighth Mage travelling with us. And look at this room, at the chairs. You have Jandegar, gold. Or yellow, or whatever. Jhyskar, red. Kelke, black. Kerrelei, blue. Tarkyn, green. Tarreiz, that odd dark colour. Ciaruse, silver."

Lucca, glancing around at the chairs, expelled a breath, finally understanding what he was getting at.

"And the Eighth Mage, purple," Magus finished. "_Purple_, Schala?"

The others began to look at the Zeal Princess, wearing her customary purple robes. Schala began, "You don't seriously think… what makes you think that I would be… it's hardly probable that…"

"Out with it, Schala," Magus urged quietly.

She sighed, eyes downcast. "I can't lie to you," she said finally. "I am the Mage of Existence, and I've known it for a long time. It's just… I didn't…"

"Why didn't you tell me before? You could have told me."

"I thought that… that if you knew, you'd treat me differently somehow," Schala said in a rather small voice. "And I know you would have, if you really knew everything. I don't want that, Janus… everything I've done has been for you… Lucca, for you…"

"Excuse me," said Ciaruse from the doorway, "but if I may interrupt, Kelke is asking for someone known as Frog."

Crono was still wearing the medallion and, although he did think briefly about how beautiful the Mage's voice was, it didn't affect him as much as it did, say, Magus and Frog.

"I don't believe we've been introduced," said Magus smoothly, rising to his feet to go to her.

Ciaruse smiled at him, moving further into the room to meet him about halfway. "Are you Frog?"

"No. I'm Janus, a prince of Zeal."

"Oh, _is_ he now?" Lucca muttered darkly. So he was plain old Magus to _them_, but to _Ciaruse_…

"Ciaruse, the Sixth Mage."

"Ciaruse," he repeated thoughtfully, taking her hands in his. "What a lovely name. You're the Mage of the Moon, are you not?"

"That's right. You know that much about us?'

"I've picked up a little here and there," shrugged Magus in a careless manner. He seemed to know all their names already, and their colours. "I'm sure you could tell me a lot more about them sometime, though."

Ciaruse smiled again. "I would like that, but perhaps later. Kelke told me three times to fetch this Frog person for him, and whenever anyone takes the trouble to tell me something three times, I know it's important. Where is Frog?"

"Um," said Frog uncertainly from his seat. "I am. I mean, here. It is I. Who is Frog."

"Tell me I wasn't like that," Crono pleaded of Marle.

"If you would like to come with me…?" Ciaruse suggested to Frog as she gently removed her hands from Magus' grasp.

"Certainly, my lady," Frog responded a little too quickly and went with the Siren as Magus returned to his, or rather Jandegar's, seat.

"What a beautiful creature," he sighed when Frog and Ciaruse had left the room.

"_Magus_!" Lucca snapped, finally unable to take it any longer.

"You're beautiful too," he assured her, but she could tell that he was only saying it to placate her.

"Get over her," Schala instructed him with a roll of her eyes. "And don't you dare ever let her sing at you. You probably wouldn't know about her. She's a Siren, so stay away!"

"What did you mean before, Schala?" Robo queried politely. "When you said that everything that you had done was for the benefit of Magus."

"You would have found out eventually, I suppose," Schala began reluctantly. "I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you the truth. I am the Eighth Mage, the Mage of Existence. I am also the Entity."


	12. Chapter Twelve

****

Author's Note : Hey people! (Hmm, yes Imania, what an incredibly intelligent comment. I swear I'm not writing a note just to say 'hey people'. Not that it's _bad_ that I'm greeting all my adoring fans (hee hee) but anyway I'm just digging myself in deeper. Have I mentioned that I'm really tired?)

I'm sorry. For the above 'paragraph' and for taking so long to update! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed. You make me feel loved. Yay.

I've had some comments – Apocalyptic Teapots, you're not the only one – about the Entity. While the 'gang' are sitting (or sulking, if you're Magus) around the campfire or whatever, just before Lucca runs off to save her mother, they have a bit of a chat about something they call the Entity. What they actually _say_ is that they get the idea that something is reliving its life through them (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), and after they fight Lavos, somebody mentions their belief that the Entity is now at rest. I've just taken the concept and stretched it a little…

Dear Dracozombie,

Why do you hate Tarreiz? Was it something I did? Was it something I made her say?! I'm sorry! You weren't meant to hate her! Is it because she's such an arrogant little person with possible delusions of grandeur and she's slightly like a Mary Sue because she's so absolutely perfect? Aaaargh! I have a Mary Sue-like character! Quick! Drown it!! Does anybody _else_ hate Tarreiz? There's nothing _wrong_ with hating her, I would just like to know why and if there are lots of people who don't like her! I know she's mean to Lucca but she's a lovely girl really! Honest!

Um… I don't know what happened to the humour. Teenage angst? Year Twelve? That's probably it, Year Twelve happened! Is it _bad_ that it's not as funny as it was? Probably. I try, I really do! Whinge whinge, whine whine, somebody put Imania back in her box! I'd best let you get to it. Here it is, then, the Entity-free, not quite so amusing next chapter…

Chapter Twelve – A room in Altrisiac

Meanwhile, Kelke had woken in a most unfamiliar place.

"What? Where's this?" he demanded, which is not a good way to announce that one has returned to consciousness. "What's happening? Where did the Otherworld go? Frog?"

"Be calm, Kelke," advised a voice that the Seventh Mage could not have said was melodious. "You are safe in Altrisiac."

"_Safe_ and _Altrisiac_ do not, unfortunately, go in the same sentence for me, Ciaruse," Kelke responded, sitting up. "Why am I here?"

"Because you are ill."

"Am I?"

"That's what Tarkyn told me. He said I was to…" Ciaruse bit her lower lip as she considered the matter. "To fetch him when you woke."

"Tarkyn? Isn't Tarreiz the official healer? No matter," Kelke shrugged. "Go and fetch Tarkyn, then."

"There is no need. His footsteps are coming to this room."

It was an odd way to phrase the statement, but if one knew Ciaruse, then it worked. She could tell who was approaching which room from a distance of some thirty metres by the sound of their footsteps, while people were talking – and once or twice arguing – in her immediate vicinity. Her hearing and attention to detail were amazing.

"Then help me out of this bed, then," Kelke instructed.

"Tarkyn did not say to – "

"Screw Tarkyn. He doesn't know what he's on about, anyway." Kelke threw off the covers and set his feet down on the floor for all of, oh, two seconds before something gave way from under him. Ciaruse moved to support him before he hit the floor.

Tarkyn entered at that moment, preceded by Tarreiz and obviously in the middle of an argument. "I still think you shouldn't be charging around here at the moment. You just need to rest – "

"You have _never_ known what I have needed," Tarreiz snapped back. "Ciaruse, leave him alone." A pause as she considered the situation. "Or should I say, Kelke, you are by no means well enough to attempt to walk."

"Why? What do I have?" Kelke asked a little groggily, allowing them to put him back on the bed. He wasn't at all used to being 'ill'.

Tarreiz began, "You have overused your magic – "

"Like someone _else_ I know," Tarkyn chipped in.

Tarreiz glared at him, continuing to glower at the Forest Mage while directing her words somewhat tightly to Kelke. "And require rest to regenerate a sufficient percentage of your power."

"You're only backing up my argument," Tarkyn pointed out smugly.

"This process is quicker for some than for others," Tarreiz informed the Shadow Mage (although she was still glaring at Tarkyn).

"I also think that you should be resting, Tarreiz," Ciaruse put in.

"And who, exactly, inquired after _your_ opinion?" Tarreiz shot back.

Ciaruse continued as though she had not spoken and probably hadn't heard her anyway. "I think I know a lullaby…"

"This is neither the time nor the place, Ciaruse. Could you just – could anyone possibly send her on an errand…?" Tarreiz queried hopefully, glancing around.

"Is he awake yet?" asked Jhyskar from the doorway. "He _is_! Kerrelei, get over here!"

"Not you two as well?" Kelke moaned with despair. "Get out of my room! How can I _rest_ with all of you lot in here?"

"We're just concerned about you, is all," Jhyskar told him.

Kerrelei gave the Shadow Mage a hug. "Are you feeling better?"

Kelke began frostily, "Don't you ever presume again to – "

"Hey, you're kind of cuddly." The Mage of Water hugged him again. "Like a teddy bear," she said happily.

"I don't – this isn't – okay, let's all compare the dark and evil Shadow Mage to a teddy bear, shall we?" suggested Kelke wearily. "Kerrelei, I do not _hug_."

"Sure you do," sighed Kerrelei, seeming totally content as she rested her head on his shoulder, resisting all attempts to be pushed off.

"I assure you, you're wrong. Could you please – Tarkyn!" Kelke whined, giving up. "Make this strange woman stop disturbing your patient!"

"_Your_ patient?" Tarreiz demanded of Tarkyn with evident disbelief.

"Uh oh," muttered Kerrelei and, releasing Kelke, moved to stand near Jhyskar as though to protect her little brother from the argument that was sure to result.

Tarreiz had continued, ignoring everyone but Tarkyn. "Since when have you been any kind of a healer?"

"You thought I had the touch for it once," was Tarkyn's response as he folded his arms.

"I never said anything of the like to you!"

Tarkyn's memory had nothing on hers, so he let it go. "Anyway, you were out of it and I'm the only other one with any skill in healing, so I had to do _something_," he tried to explain, adding, "You came through well enough under my care."

"Your _care_?" Tarreiz repeated with clear disbelief. "You have the worst bedside manner I have ever had the misfortune to experience!"

"What happened to you?" Kelke asked Tarreiz curiously.

"Overuse of magic," Tarkyn explained, keeping his arms folded. "She refuses to make use of the medicine that she's prescribed to you. As in, _resting_."

"How did that happen? The overuse, I mean," the Shadow Mage clarified.

"Jandegar made us try to construct the Barrier without you."

Ciaruse remarked, "I couldn't believe it when he pulled out like that. It was his decision to try it, after all."

"_What_ did you say?" Kerrelei demanded excitedly, sensing that now she would get some 'concrete evidence'.

"Jandegar stopped halfway through, and Tarreiz made up for it," Ciaruse explained, not understanding why it was so important. "Didn't you know that was how it happened?"

"You're _sure_ it was Jandegar?" Kerrelei pressed.

Ciaruse nodded. "I can sense Jandegar's magic, and it was definitely his."

Kerrelei glanced back at Tarreiz triumphantly. "He tried to kill you. I _knew_ it! Jandegar tried to kill you."

"Yes, well, that's all good and well, but could you all get out of my room?" Kelke demanded impatiently. "Shoo! Scatter! And Tarkyn, you're neglecting your patient. I'm hungry!"

Tarkyn refrained from commenting that Kelke was _always_ hungry. "What would you like?" he asked politely.

"Sandwiches. Cheese ones. White bread, but no butter. And ham. In a sandwich or not, it doesn't matter. It has to have lettuce in a sandwich, though. And some grapes, if you have any around the place. And party pies! I've been _craving_ party pies! And maybe an apple? Or – "

"I'll see what we have in the kitchen," sighed Tarkyn and wandered out. Kerrelei and Jhyskar, who were both talking about Jandegar's little attempt at murder, followed him.

"Get some rest," Tarreiz ordered.

"I'm so sick of people telling me to do that!" Kelke complained.

"Then perhaps you ought to begin to listen to them." She hesitated and then gave him a quick hug.

Kelke stared at her, almost horrified. "What was _that_ for?"

"I just wanted to see if you _were_ cuddly," Tarreiz explained, going to the door.

The Shadow Mage's expression changed slightly to one that was definitely fascinated horror. "And your verdict is…?"

"You are." With that, Tarreiz disappeared.

"I want to see if Frog's still alive," Kelke decided and looked around. "Ciaruse! Come here and listen to me carefully."

"Yes?" queried the Siren, going to him.

"I want you to do something for me. I want you to find a person by the name of Frog and direct him here. Do you understand? Bring me someone by the name of Frog. Ciaruse, find a person called Frog, and then send him to me. Ciaruse, what do you have to do?"

"Find someone named Frog and bring him to you," Ciaruse repeated obediently.

"Good girl. Now go!"

Ciaruse wandered away. Kelke looked around the room for a moment, twiddling his thumbs with boredom. There was a piece of paper on a table across the other side of the room, and he decided that he wanted it. Levitation was, in his opinion, a simple act of magic, perhaps warlock level. In his universe there were three usual attainable levels of magic. For men it was warlock, wizard, Sorcerer. The female version was a little different, being witch, enchantress, Sorceress. Only two people in the whole of their history had ever gone through all three levels to eventually become Mages, and those two were Kelke and Tarreiz.

Kelke had always considered himself to be pretty good at levitation. He held a hand out, and the piece of paper did not so much as move. Increasing both concentration and magic used caused the paper to lift about a centimetre from the table. It began to drift slowly across the room and was about halfway when the door opened. His concentration broken, Kelke glanced up and the paper fluttered to the floor.

__

'A simple spell,' thought Kelke with frustration, glancing at it. _'It should be easy for a Mage.' _Too many factors – his dependence on the black pool in the Citadel, his recent battle with Crono's group, the effort of using Oblivion, his most powerful attack but one that was hardest to use, the recent trip through the Otherworld – had seriously depleted his magic. Besides, something had been wrong for a long time. That was why he had given up so quickly in the fight against Magus. Recently, it had become impossible for him to continuously use magic over the course of an hour or two. That was his reason for using the black pool, which regenerated magic and health, so much. The other Mages knew nothing of this. Kelke would never have told them.

"Kelke?" queried Ciaruse from the doorway. "Is there something wrong?"

"No," the Shadow Mage lied easily. "Nothing at all. Ah! Frog!"

"Well?" Frog asked as Ciaruse wandered off. "Have I earned thine tale yet?"

"Yes, but not here. You'll just have to wait for a while," Kelke said almost tauntingly. "For now, pull up a chair and talk to me. I'm bored, and Tarkyn should be bringing me some food soon. I might even share it with you, if you're nice to me. Oh, and Frog…? Do you see that piece of paper on the floor? Yes, that one. …Could you bring it to me?"


	13. Chapter Thirteen

****

Chapter Thirteen – The Chamber of the Mages, Altrisiac

Dead silence in the room.

Magus, so recently reunited with the people who were beginning to become good friends, stared at the woman he had always considered to be his sister. The others were no less shocked. Crono had always known that Schala was powerful, and the recent discovery that she was the Eighth Mage served only to reinforce this. However, the news that she was also the Entity had been completely unexpected.

Magus was the one to finally break the silence. "How?" he asked quietly, stroking Alfador, who was curled up in the wizard's lap.

"I became aware of you by accident," Schala admitted, twisting her hands together in a nervous gesture that was so very human, "and I watched you for a while. As time passed I decided that I had to be with you somehow. Family seemed to be the best way to do that. I had, and still do not have, no interest in you – intimately. If you know what I mean. Something about you… fascinated me… so I found a way to put myself into your life. To be able to look out for you more easily."

"So you're what's behind all of this?" Magus demanded. "You're the reason I was taken out of Zeal?"

"I had to get you away from there," Schala insisted, looking at him. "Your mother would have killed you otherwise. Besides, out of Zeal, you became… what you are."

"A bitter, twisted man whose only reason to live was built around an impossible revenge."

"A wizard who is more powerful than you know," Schala countered. "Besides, out of Zeal, you encountered Lucca and the others. You would never have met them – no, you met them, you would never have joined them," Schala corrected herself. "You'd never have joined them if you'd stayed in Zeal and remained… well… powerless Janus. You are… necessary to this group. Which is also necessary. All of you are," she told them, glancing at each of them. "To save your own world from Lavos, if not… more."

"What do you mean?" Crono demanded tightly.

"You've felt how fractured this universe is," Schala said by way of response. "The Mages are meant to be keeping it together, but they can't. Very soon it will all fall apart. One of them is tainted by a dark madness. Another is losing control over their magic. Two of them are way too caught up in their own games to be any use. Yet another of the Mages doesn't have much control over their element, one of them is suicidal although the others don't know, and the only one who can be helpful never spends any time in the same universe as everyone else. I can't fix them all by myself. This isn't… isn't going to be your last venture here."

"Damn it, leave us alone!" Marle exploded, thumping the table. "I don't _want_ to be like this! I just want to have a couple of adventures, and then settle down with the man I love and maybe raise some children, I don't know. I _don't_ want to run around fixing _your_ mistakes!"

"I will not force any one of you to continue in this path, Marle," Schala told her quietly.

"Well, good."

"Unfortunately, should you choose a safer journey, I'll need to send you back to your own time and erase your memory of all of these events. It will be as though you never even bumped into Crono that day."

That brought the young princess up short. She glanced at Crono, opened her mouth as though to speak, then thought better of it. Biting her lower lip, she looked back at Schala.

"What will it be, Marle?" asked Schala matter-of-factly. "Danger and adventure with the man you love, or a safe and pampered life at home? You never know. You may marry eventually, and perhaps to a man you will come to tolerate, if not appreciate."

"I'll stay here, then," Marle decided finally, reluctantly. "I guess I can handle running after the Mages if I'm with Crono."

Crono smiled at her and, leaning over the table, took her hand. "If Marle's made that decision, I can't very well say no. I'm in, too."

"Knowing my stakes, do any of you wish to back out?" Schala asked, glancing around.

"Hey, I've been in from the start," Lucca said almost defensively. "I'm not quitting now!"

"Ayla not give up!" Ayla agreed firmly. "Ayla want help funny silver woman…"

"I have no wish to forget any of my new friends," Robo put in.

"I can't speak for him," Crono began, "but I'm sure Frog will want to help, too. You'll have to ask him."

Schala nodded, glanced at the person whose opinion meant the most to her. "Magus? What will you decide?"

"Why didn't you tell me, Schala?" he asked bluntly.

"Because I knew that you'd freak out, much as you're doing now," she answered truthfully. "I didn't want that. You understand, don't you? I've done everything for you. Well, mostly. I arranged a lot of things because the world needed things to happen."

Crono asked a question that had been bothering him ever since Schala had admitted to being the Entity. "Why Lavos? I mean, why did you arrange to send Lavos to our world?"

Schala smiled slightly. "Some things are beyond my control. Lavos is one of them. I didn't arrange to send him here. Rather, I arranged for you lot to kill him. Now, I'm counting on you, and if any of you let me down, then I will be _very_ upset. And you'll also be in quite a lot of trouble. Then again, some of these gifts from the Mages ought to come in fairly handy."

"So you've been… travelling with us all this time…" Lucca began.

"I'm not exactly a mind reader, but I can guess what your next question will be," Schala broke in. "I don't know exactly how the battle with Lavos will turn out. By your standards, I am indeed omnipotent, but I know every possibility and couldn't really say which ending you'll get."

"That's not reassuring," Magus remarked.

"You never gave me your answer," Schala remembered. "Are you in, or are you out?"

"Of course I'm in," was the good evil wizard's response. "Did you ever doubt that my answer would be otherwise?" He gave the others a meaningful look. "I've thrown my hand in with you all so thoroughly that Schala won't be the only one who'll get upset if we lose."

Schala smiled. "Good. That's really quite reassuring. Your choices are another thing I didn't know. There was one possibility where Marle went home and Crono and Lucca were both killed."

"Thank you," said Lucca firmly to Marle, "for deciding to stay with us."

"You're very welcome," was Marle's shaken reply.

"If Frog agrees to stay with the group, and I sincerely hope that he will, then you stand a very good chance against Lavos," Schala continued. "I can't help you in that battle. I'm sorry."

Robo had been planning to venture a question when they were interrupted by a very familiar voice. "I have already _told_ you that I do not need your help!" snapped Tarreiz as she stalked into the room, followed by an equally angry-looking Tarkyn. "If you knew anything about healing, you would realise that people recover in different times and I have _obviously_ quite recovered!"

"I know you, Tarreiz, and I know you don't recover from tiredness _that_ easily," Tarkyn shot back.

"Considering that you obviously weren't aware of my magic when we first met, I suppose that you don't know me as well as you thought that you did," Tarreiz informed him coldly. "And you never tired me, either," she added before turning to Crono and his friends. "The Mages would like to make use of this room, if that is quite all right with you. I will show you to your own rooms in Altrisiac. Not you, Schala," said the Mage of Vision as all of them rose to their feet. "You will need to stay here. You know why." She glanced at the others. "Please, follow me."

Magus smiled a little uncertainly at the woman he still considered to be his sister as he followed Tarreiz out.

Schala glanced at Tarkyn. "What, exactly, is happening now?" she asked him.

Tarkyn smiled. "Why, Schala, you are going to be brought into the fold of the Eight Mages."


	14. Chapter Fourteen

****

Author's Note : Thanks heaps to absolutely everyone who's reviewed! I sympathise, zipis1, I hate school! It gets in the way of the more important things, like Magus, and writing, and writing about Magus! Yay! You guys all rock!

Lavis countdown – five chapters (I _did_ tell you this was a long story…)

Chapter Fourteen – The Chamber of the Mages, Altrisiac

The other six Magesmade their ways into the Chamber. Kerrelei smiled at Schala, understanding what was happening, and took her seat; Jhyskar obviously knew the plot because he didn't even react. Schala doubted that Ciaruse even noticed her existence. Tarkyn returned to take his seat next to Tarreiz. Jandegar shot the Princess of Zeal a dirty look but said nothing.

"You are in my chair."

"Oh!" Schala abruptly realised that she was, in fact, in Kelke's chair. Getting up, she moved to the eighth chair, keeping an eye on the Shadow Mage. He was wearing white again and looked every bit as in control as he had the very first time she had met him. That had been some time ago, and was another story, besides.

"What," began Jandegar frostily, "is happening here?"

"I have located not only the Seventh, but also the Eighth Mage for you," Tarreiz informed him a little smugly, although it hadn't been her doing and everyone knew it except for Jandegar (and possibly Ciaruse). However, nobody minded giving her credit for it if it helped her score points over the Mage of the Sun.

"_You_ are the Eighth Mage?" Jandegar demanded of Schala disbelievingly.

"I certainly am," she answered politely.

"Very well," he said a little grudgingly. "In that case, we will induct you into the Mages and then we can construct the barrier."

"If Tarreiz is feeling well enough," Kerrelei put in coldly.

"I would hope that Tarreiz would be well enough not to slow the process down," Jandegar shot back.

"Please, could we not argue too much in front of Schala just yet?" Ciaruse pleaded. "She will never want to join us."

"About that," Schala began firmly. "I'm not staying here. I don't belong in this universe."

"You don't belong anywhere, do you, Schala," Kelke said blandly, making it a comment, not a question.

She chose to ignore it. "I wouldn't want you to have to shift your territories, anyway. Not when you have them so nicely worked out."

"You may have mine," Tarreiz offered, for she hated Jeraska, her own territory.

"And where will you go, Tarreiz? Move in with Tarkyn, perhaps?" mocked the Shadow Mage.

"Which is why I do not usually allow him here," Jandegar muttered, purposefully loud enough for Kelke to overhear.

"At least I've never deliberately set out to harm another of the Mages," Kelke snapped. "Although you may soon persuade me to change this."

"Are you threatening me?" demanded Jandegar, his voice spilling over with injured righteousness.

"Would you all _shut up_?" Ciaruse demanded harshly. The others stared at her and she added a timid, "Please."

"Ciaruse is right," Jhyskar nodded, rising. "We should get Schala to join us as quickly as possible, before she finds out what we're really like and runs screaming in the other direction."

"What do I do during this?" Schala asked, suddenly nervous.

"Just agree," Tarreiz advised. "Go to Jandegar first, and then just move around until you have spoken to all of us. Preferably in order."

"All right."

The Mages had taken their places under their respective stained glass windows. Schala went to Jandegar, as Tarreiz had instructed.

He took her hands. "As the First Mage, Mage of the Sun, I welcome you into the Order of the Mages, Schala. Altrisiac is always open to you, provided you abide by our rules. May the sun always shine to light your way… no matter how far from the Mages you go. Schala, will you join, and therefore complete, the Eight Mages?"

"I guess so. Yes." She understood that he had given her his permission to go back to what she still considered her own universe, although it annoyed her that she should require his 'permission'. Jandegar's hands were cold and she was glad to release them. The man gave her the creeps.

Kerrelei smiled as Schala approached. Taking her hands, Schala sensed the Mage's outward strength and inner vulnerability, but she smiled back.

Kerrelei's speech was similar to Jandegar's. "As the Second Mage, the Mage of Water, I welcome you into the Order of the Mages. May the waters run calmly for you, and always enliven you. Schala, will you join the Eight Mages?"

"Yes." It seemed to be the only thing that was required to be said, and Schala moved on to Jhyskar.

The Mage of Fire mimed disgust at the formality, getting his message across perfectly, but took her hands and said the words anyway. "As the Third Mage, the Mage of Fire, I welcome you into the Order of the Mages. Fires will burn for you, and keep you warm… with any luck, a little more so than they do for me," he added with a wry grin. "Schala, will you join the Eight Mages?"

"Yes." Schala was getting just a bit bored. Or maybe more than a bit. Wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible, she held her hands out to Tarkyn.

He took them with a grin. "Unfortunately for you, you get all seven of us. Anyway, as the Forest Mage, I welcome you into the Order. I hope that you find as much peace in the Forest as I do." He hesitated, then added, "The Grove is yours to explore, provided you can find it. I won't lead you there. Schala, will you join the Eight Mages?"

"Yes," she said, trying to keep her irritation under check. "And I _will_ find the Grove, you can be sure of that," she added rapidly.

"That's the only reason I offered, Schala. You're one of the few who _can_ find it." Tarkyn smiled at her, then passed her on to Tarreiz.

"They all said it wrong," Tarreiz shrugged dismissively. "Now you can hear the greeting in the manner that it is _meant_ to be said."

"I look forward to it," Schala said with a smile.

"I am the Fifth Mage and I welcome and accept you into our Order. Always see what is true, Schala, and nothing more nor less." The Mage of Vision paused slightly as if debating whether or not to add something more. She chose to do so. "If you have looked, then look again, for you may find surprising elements in the darkest of corners. Schala, do you agree to become the Eighth in the Order of the Eight?"

"Your way's prettier, and yes."

"It has been a long time since any of us have said those words, and even longer since they were said properly. Let's see how much Ciaruse remembers."

Ciaruse had obviously had these words drilled into her. Her eyes a little unfocused, she recited in a sing-song tone, "As the Sixth Mage, Mage of the Moon, I welcome you into the Order. May the moon light your way through the darkest of shadows. Will you join the Eight Mages?"

"Yes, for the sixth time!" Schala exclaimed.

"She didn't remember my name either," Kelke said drily. The light under which he stood was black, making him appear shrouded in shadow. His folded arms and cold expression didn't make him any more approachable, but Schala (who knew she could beat him like a circus monkey) approached him anyway. She couldn't help noticing that his hands, when he took hers in his, were warm. Not to mention smooth. The hands of a magician who had never done a day's work in his life. It gave her an implication of how powerful he had been even at an early age.

"I've never done this before," he told her easily. "I'm not quite sure what to say, but I'm sure I'll manage." A pause as he considered. "As well you know, I am the Seventh Mage, that of Shadow. I welcome you into the Order of the Eight Mages, and hope that…" Kelke hesitated, continued with, "that you come to understand not all shadows or evil are to be condemned. Schala, would you accept me?"

She hesitated, holding his eyes uncertainly. Extraordinarily blue eyes, they were, when they weren't black with his shadowed power. What he was asking was different, and she couldn't answer that. Not with a 'yes'. Not, if he kept looking at her like that, with a 'no'.

He smiled a little grudgingly and changed his request. "Then could you ever bring yourself, oh great and mighty Schala, to look upon this humble instrument of darkness with anything more than scorn, and agree to join an Order which contains this flawed and unworthy vessel?"

"Not if the flawed and unworthy vessel is going to be so sarcastic all of the time," Schala responded a bit sharply. "Otherwise, yes."

"Welcome, then, to the Order of the Eight Mages," Jandegar broke in as Kelke released Schala's hands. "If you are ready to do so, then we will construct the barrier that will keep Lavos away from our world."

"In theory," Kelke broke in.

Jandegar glared at him. "In _practice_."

"And you can cool it with the evil glares as well. _I'm_ the Shadow Mage around here, not you. You're the Mage of the _Sun_. You're meant to be good and noble, not go around glaring at people."

"And trying to kill other Mages," Kerrelei added.

Jandegar glared at her instead. "Are you accusing me?"

"I really don't know, what do you think?"

"Whoa, whoa, we can argue _after_ we've made this barrier," Jhyskar cautioned.

Kerrelei was glaring darkly at Jandegar. "I just don't think it's safe to do this if Jandegar is going to try to murder Tarreiz again."

"I am _more_ than capable of looking after myself!" Tarreiz shot back angrily.

Tarkyn exclaimed almost triumphantly, "And it's _that_ attitude that is going to get you killed some day soon!"

"What would you know?" she challenged, and then everything pretty much fell apart.

Tarkyn and Tarreiz were so involved in their argument that it was unlikely they noticed Kerrelei and Jandegar getting stuck into each other. Jhyskar was trying to get them to calm down, and all five were yelling over each other. Ciaruse had moved to one corner of the room. Eyes closed, hands over her ears, she was singing quietly to herself, almost under her breath. Schala could see her lips moving but could not hear the words or the melody. Kelke stood apart from all of them, arms crossed, watching dispassionately.

"Don't bother trying to stop them," he said calmly to Schala, seeing her expression. "It will end with Tarreiz storming off and Jandegar banishing Kerrelei from Altrisiac forever, and tomorrow they'll be all smiles." Kelke gave a smile of his own, but it was bitter and mocking. "Welcome to the Order of the Eight Mages."


	15. Chapter Fifteen

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Author's Note : Well, here's a chapter with Magus _and_ Kelke in it! More Magus, though, as you may be pleased to hear. It, um… gets a bit fluffy…

Lavos countdown – four chapters!

Chapter Fifteen – The kitchen, Altrisiac

"So can we go home yet?"

"No, Crono, not yet," Schala admitted with a sigh. "We were meant to construct the Barrier. The others had an argument instead. According to Kelke, Jandegar will get us to try again tomorrow."

"We'd better hurry," Lucca put in. "Magus, will you hurry up with those potatoes?"

"I didn't cook anything last time, I was the waiter," the good evil wizard shot back. Standing at the sink, he was attempting to peel some potatoes with a knife. "Well, and then I tried, but _someone_ had made the oven incredibly complicated."

"All you had to do was hold a button down to let the gas in so you could light the pilot light, Magus, that's not very complicated," Lucca replied mercilessly.

"And my hands are very well, thank you," continued Magus.

"I know, we all know they're very good, they healed when you put them in the black pool."

"_Kelke_ put them in, not me," Magus replied archly.

"Just be quiet and get on with it!" Lucca snapped.

Magus grumbled, "Okay, okay, I'm getting. What are you doing with these potatoes anyway?"

"Mashing them."

"Oh really? Sounds vicious… so what's it like, Schala, being a Mage?"

"Terrible," Schala sighed. Sitting at the kitchen table, she was watching Magus and Lucca as they attempted to cook something. "And _boring_. And I've only officially been a Mage for three hours!" The others had easily accepted the fact that she was the Entity and treated her, as she wanted them to, as though she were still just Schala. "If you don't mind me asking, _why_ have you taken over the kitchen?"

"Old times' sake," Magus explained, explaining nothing. "Lucca? Cut into lots of little bits if you want them mashed?"

"Yes please, and do you want _me_ to light the oven?" Lucca teased.

"You just wait!" Eagerly cutting the potato and putting the bits in a saucepan already half-filled with water, Magus made a few gestures and used magic to light the pilot light.

"Most people just use the buttons," Lucca allowed, handing him another potato.

"We're in _Altrisiac_," he reminded her, peeling the potato. "Do you think the Mages press _buttons_ or use magic?"

"I really don't think the Mages cook," Lucca replied, turning over the steaks that she was cooking.

"When in Altrisiac, do as the Mages do…" said Magus airily.

"Oh please no!" Schala pleaded. Pressing her temples, she added, "They're children, really… they give me such a headache…"

"And these are the people you want us to _help_?" asked Marle sceptically.

"We're not _all_ children."

The icy tone was bad enough but they all recognised the voice and all of them glanced up to where Kelke stood in the doorway. Crono rested one hand lightly on the hilt of his sword, which he took everywhere, and Marle, weaponless, resorted to crossing her arms and glaring.

"What do you think _you're_ doing here?" Magus asked Kelke archly.

"This is my universe," responded the Shadow Mage. "I have a right to be here.You should be asking yourself that." He spoke to Schala. "Jandegar," and the name seemed distasteful to him, "_requests_ your presence in the Chamber of the Mages. He wants to try the Barrier again."

"Aren't we waiting until tomorrow?" asked Schala.

"He's had a change of heart. Come on."

"But what about Kerrelei?" protested Schala. "Hasn't she been exiled?"

"He says we can do it without Kerrelei. Tarreiz, of course, argued, and the only reason _she_ hasn't been exiled is because without her we wouldn't be able to do anything. That's why I'm still here. Come _on_," Kelke ordered again.

Magus abandoned the potatoes in favour of Schala. "You'd better be nicer to my sister, Kelke," he warned, moving to Schala's side. "But not _too_ nice," he added, remembering Kelke's seeming romantic interest in Schala.

Alfador, winding himself around Magus' feet, meowed his agreement. Kelke glared at the cat and said sharply, "Shut up."

"Do _not_ be rude to my cat," Magus snapped.

"Do you consider this wise?" Kelke asked him mockingly, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded. "To challenge a Mage in Altrisiac? You do know that one yell from me will have the others here in a second. They may not be a great deal of help and they'll come reluctantly, but they'll come regardless."

"Do you need the other Mages to protect you?" Magus asked innocently. "Well, I guess it makes sense… you're not much of an evil wizard, are you?"

"In a magical fight I would kill you."

"Ah, but you haven't yet," Magus pointed out.

Kelke offered, "Would you like me to try? I'd be more than willing." Then, with a glance at Lucca, he added, "Unless of course you want your girlfriend to fight me for you again…"

Just before Magus opened his mouth to say something that would get them all killed, Schala spoke. "Kelke, please try not to provoke my brother. It would make life easier for all of us," she explained. "Could you do that for me?"

"I guess," Kelke muttered. "Now hurry up, Jandegar's already impatient." He stepped aside to let Schala pass and then paused to look Magus up and down. "You're lucky," he said simply and departed.

"You would _not_ have killed me!" Magus yelled angrily after him. He added to himself, "Might have set me back a bit, but he wouldn't have _killed_ me. Now, Lucca, what was it you wanted me to do? Do I still have to peel potatoes?"

"Yes," Lucca said firmly, and with a highly exaggerated sigh, Magus returned to the potatoes.

"Hey, Crono, let's… go and do something," Marle suggested.

"Why?" asked Crono. "Don't you like the kitchen?"

"Well, it's a very nice kitchen, but don't you think you'd really like to go and do something _else_? Training? With weapons or magic or… something?"

"I'm too tired to do weapons training," Crono yawned. With a glance at Magus, he added, "And there's no point doing anything magical without Magus, but he's been drafted for kitchen duty."

"Damn straight," Lucca agreed.

"Let's go outside and take a _walk_," Marle hissed desperately.

Crono looked out the window. "It's too cold. It's snowing!"

Not even turning, Magus suggested, "Why don't you agree to one of Marle's rather pathetic excuses for the two of you to leave, which is an obvious attempt to leave Lucca and me alone in the kitchen?"

"Oh!" Crono exclaimed, getting up. "Why didn't you just say so?" he asked Marle. "We'll go and see what everyone else is doing. I hope Ayla hasn't tried to eat the décor again…"

Crono and Marle left, leaving Lucca and Magus alone in the kitchen, which was what Marle had intended, but not quite in such an obvious way. For a while there was easy silence between the two. Magus finally finished the potatoes and put them in a saucepan to boil as Lucca saw to the vegetables.

"What now?" Magus asked cheerfully, glancing around the kitchen.

"Now we just wait until everything's finished, and we can all have a decent meal for once," Lucca responded, stepping back and surveying her handwork proudly. "You know, I really think I could improve their oven…"

"_No_, Lucca. Don't mess with the kitchen of the Mages. They probably won't like it," Magus warned, sitting down at the table.

"You're probably right," Lucca agreed with a sigh. Sitting opposite him, she regarded him for a moment. "Magus…"

"Yes, Lucca?"

"The… in the Black Citadel," she began, and Magus looked away as he realised what she was talking about. Lucca bit her lower lip at this response but pressed on bravely. "When we were getting out of it. Before you tried to distract Kelke so we could get out, you… you kissed me. Why did you do that?"

There was a pause in which Magus himself tried to find a reason. "There isn't… there's no _reason_ as such," he began, giving her an almost apologetic look. "Mostly it was because I was pretty sure Kelke was going to kill me, which, thanks to Frog's interference, he didn't."

"And you… what? Wanted to get it over with before you died, or something?"

"I _said_ there wasn't much of a reason, Lucca," he retorted almost sharply.

"I'm not saying it was wrong of you, or anything," she assured him. "I mean… well, that is to say…"

"Look, let's get something straight," Magus said firmly. "I like you."

Lucca nodded, not really sure if 'like' was what she wanted, and had begun to speak when Magus interrupted her to continue with, "As in, I _really_ like you. Enough to take advantage of your ever-so-slight tipsiness to make a bargain with you to lend you my cloak if you took off your shirt."

She smiled at the memory, not that she could exactly remember it. "Well, you have a strange way of showing it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped defensively.

"It means _that_!"

"What?"

"You!"

"Oh, it's my fault for doing everything wrong, is it?"

"Calm down!" she instructed. "I'm not _saying_ anything's your fault, I'm just saying… well, there's no need to snap at me, is all."

"I don't know how to do this," he muttered sullenly, leaning back in his chair and glaring at the table.

"Nor do I," she admitted.

"Well, I'm sure you've had more experience with it."

"Not really," Lucca disagreed. "In fact, I probably haven't."

"You were most likely raised in an environment where love was normal. My mother was too busy obsessing over Lavos to notice me for most of my childhood and I spent the rest of my life with Ozzie, who only loved my power."

"I sense distinct bitterness," she noted with a small smile, resting both elbows on the table, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on them. "Tell me all about it."

"This is too hard," he said sharply. "It would never work out."

"You can't condemn something that hasn't started yet."

"Yes I can," he argued, "I can condemn anything I like!"

"Well, you probably could." Lucca glanced at the stove. "Uh-oh!" she exclaimed and jumped up to attend to the vegetables, which were boiling over. "Okay," she said when the crisis was past, returning to the table. "After a break in this serious conversation… what would make it too hard?"

"Everything," he retorted. "Don't you understand, I'm not a safe person to be around? You feel the black wind like I do, which is never a good thing. Kelke hates me and may very well use you to hurt me. What if Lavos kills you? What will I do then?"

"That wouldn't be your fault," she argued.

He countered, "I'd feel like it was."

"Look, Magus – "

He cut her off. "Anyway, I'm evil."

"Not any more."

"I am. I might not want to be but it's something I am, and I can't change that," he pointed out almost triumphantly. "See? I'm evil, and you wouldn't want to be with someone who's evil."

"I've always had a thing for evil people," she countered with a smile, although in fact Magus was the only 'evil' person she had ever really liked.

"I'm a murderer."

"So are we," Lucca put in instantly. "I've lost count of the amount of Mystics we've killed." Her brow furrowed at the thought. "Which is horrible, really."

"I'm not right for you. I'm too old. It would never work."

"Why are you making such an effort to push me away?" she demanded. "I put up with your rudeness, I tried to find you even though you'd threatened to kill both Marle and Frog, I went with you to get Alfador – "

"I never asked you – " he began.

"Shut up and listen," she snapped. "You've had your rant, so you can damn well sit through mine. We had a birthday party for you despite your attempt to leave before it even really started! We went to an Alternate Universe for you and you showed your gratitude by going off on your own without telling any of us!"

"I had to – "

"You might have told _someone_!" Lucca continued. "Do you have any idea how much I worried about you? You could have been dead for all we knew!"

"I wanted to take you with me but I was too scared you'd get hurt," he snapped. "The way that _everyone_ I've ever been close to has been hurt."

"Magus…" said Lucca gently, "I'm not going to let anyone hurt me."

"Well I certainly can't protect you," he pointed out, arms folded. "I'm not as powerful as I once was. Not yet. I'm working on it but I still need more time. Oh sure, I can pull off most of the spells I could before but they're not – If you lot hadn't helped me with Kelke, I would never have been able to defeat him, with or without magic. And that hurts. I doubt you understand how much that hurts. I _hate_ having to depend on anyone, especially you lot. And it's pointless anyway. I couldn't even protect Schala. As Janus _or_ the Prophet."

"Schala doesn't need protection," Lucca stated firmly, "and neither do I."

"It won't work," Magus said flatly, "and that's the bottom line. You can try all you like but it won't – "

Lucca leaned across the table to kiss him. After a moment he rested one hand on her face, moved it down to her neck. The table made it a little difficult but they rose to the challenge, managing very well, thank you very much.

Lucca broke it off but kept her face close to his. Smiling, she queried, "Do you really think it won't work? I think we can make it work."

"I think maybe we can," he agreed and claimed her mouth. They had gained considerable confidence by now and Lucca in particular had more of an idea about what she was meant to be doing.

The clanging of saucepan lids brought the both of them out of their little dream world and Lucca glanced over at the stove. "Uh-oh!" she said again, considerably more urgently this time, and rushed over to attend to the boiling pots.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

When will Imania next strike with an update? Will it be Tuesday? Wednesday? Nobody knows! Not even _she_ knows! It certainly won't be this weekend because she'll be in Ballarat with her school orchestra…

And yes, it _is_ my orchestra, thank you very much. I'm the co-leader, the other co-leader isn't coming on my trip, therefore it is _my_ orchestra, _mine_!

Okay. Um… first of all, you never actually get to _see_ Lavos, because I couldn't really be bothered writing him (or… it) into it. Secondly, yes, they get their items for free… basically because they needed something to do while Kelke and Frog escaped the Otherworld. Thirdly, _no_, Dracozombie, they will _always_ need Tarreiz, I'm _sorry_, but they do get to beat her up in the next story. (It's complicated.) Oh, and yeah… about the fact that this is a trilogy… it isn't. I'm two thirds of the way through the fourth and starting on the fifth… by the way, Tarreiz is hardly in the fourth and if she's in the fifth then it will be only briefly. I liked your description of her, though, ranting about how wrong people are if they disagree with her! Sigh… sorry, you weren't _meant_ to not like her!

By the way, I find this chapter boring. Basically, it's in here because it _needs_ to be in here!

Lavos countdown – three chapters (I think)

Chapter Sixteen – The Chamber of the Mages, Altrisiac

After Jhyskar threw a temper tantrum and declared that either Jandegar had to let Kerrelei come back or he wouldn't help, everything went rather well. At first, anyway. Jhyskar got word to Kerrelei through some kind of telepathy that she was allowed to return and the Mage of Water was there in an instant. Schala made the others swear that they would not argue for the half hour maximum that it would take to construct the Barrier and the Mages got to it.

Tarreiz explained to Schala that the Mages all needed to stand in their respective places and, summoning their magic, place it in the centre of the Chamber, where it would be joined by the others and then melded together to create a strong shield of pure magic. This shield, as Schala knew, was to bounce Lavos harmlessly away from this world and onto a nearby planet devoid of life. The Mage of Vision also stated, to the surprise of the others, that the shield would then be moved to that planet to trap Lavos there and that not all Eight would be needed to do this.

Jandegar was the first to raise his gold magic and Tarkyn was pleased to note that the Mage of the Sun had decided to pull his weight this time. The others followed in order; Kerrelei's blue, Jhyskar's red, Tarkyn's green, the strange darkish colour of Tarreiz, Ciaruse's silver, Kelke's black, and finally Schala's purple. The addition of Schala's magic made everything so much more stable, even if she wasn't entirely sure of what she was doing.

It was the lead of Tarreiz that the others followed, not Jandegar, as the Mage of Vision guided the others in wrapping their magic around everyone else's in a multicoloured kind of tube thing. Schala watched curiously as the two darker colours began to meld together, quickly understanding that Tarreiz and Kelke were experimenting to see if this melding of magic could be done. The two had clearly been working together for a long time as this was done quite easily. The two Mages reached for Schala, who was probably the most magically powerful of the lot, to guide her through the process. She proved to be a swift learner and the three of them moved to teach the others in turn, beginning with Jandegar. The colours swiftly melded into a kind of rainbow. It was quite pretty, really.

It was Tarkyn who again noticed that Tarreiz was using slightly more magic than anyone else. He found to his surprise that she seemed to be using the extra power to support Kelke, who should not have needed it. Tarkyn extended his own power to Kelke in an effort to lift the burden from Tarreiz's shoulders and was violently rebuffed.

"Tarkyn, concentrate!" Jandegar snapped as the green strand faded a little. Not only was the paling of the green easily visible to all of them, if none but Kelke knew why, but Jandegar could, in a way, sense all of them.

"Sorry," Tarkyn muttered and concentrated, finding his feet again and leaving Kelke to his own devices.

They had worked their way around to Tarkyn himself before something started to go wrong. One of the darker strands broke apart from the others in several places. Tarkyn instinctively checked Tarreiz, who was using still more of her power but looked as though she could go on all day. It was Kelke, then, who had begun to falter. The Shadow Mage's magic never went well with that of the others but he was powerful enough to make this work. Well, he was meant to be.

It was Schala who spoke. "We need to stop."

"No," Jandegar said sharply. "We're so close, there's no point in stopping now."

"There's no point in killing Kelke for this, either," Schala argued. Overuse or drain of magic could be fatal. If Tarkyn was to be believed – and he wasn't in the opinion of Tarreiz, who was prejudiced anyway – then Kelke had almost died because of exactly that. It was entirely probable that he was still weak.

"Does the life of one person matter when we can save millions?" Jandegar retorted. "Nobody cares about Kelke anyway."

Kelke made an effort and the black band strengthened a little. _'Schala, control it,'_ Tarreiz ordered, using some kind of telepathy. _'You're more than capable of taking it from here. Kelke needs to know that there _are_ people here who care enough to save his life.'_

Schala nodded, although there wasn't much point in doing so, and even as Tarkyn's power melded with theirs the Eighth Mage was reaching for Ciaruse. She had the hang of it now and made up easily for Tarreiz as the Mage of Vision withdrew a little. Ciaruse's silver was soon joined with the others in a shimmering rainbow tube. Schala, who was improvising although she would never let anyone else know that, gently closed off the ends and turned it into a circle, which she began to expand.

"Too slow," Jandegar snarled and took over.

Schala tried to regain control of her precious magic-circle. "You can't go _that_ fast!" she warned. "Not everyone can keep up with that."

"You mean Kelke? He can give a little more," Jandegar said gaily, and Kelke cried out almost in pain as the Mage of the Sun took rough possession of a little less than half of his remaining power, putting this into the Barrier. Jandegar did it again and Kelke fell to his knees. The cry was drawn this time from Tarreiz, now so closely bound to the Shadow Mage that Jandegar was taking her magic as well as Kelke's.

There were protests from the other Mages at the rough treatment of two of their own, but Jandegar was on a roll and gave no sign of having heard. Schala began to chant under her breath, calling on the magic she had taken out of Zeal, her own unique power connected in no way to Lavos. She set all the other Mages neatly to one side and took over completely, expanding the circle in her own good time until it rested around the entire planet, whereupon she sealed the 'ends', separating the Mages from the circle.

And that was how Schala almost single-handedly saved the Alternate Universe.

The moment he was set free from the Barrier, Tarkyn went instantly to Tarreiz, who out of the two endangered Mages was in fact the least in real danger. She, at least, was on her feet. "Are you all right?" he asked her with concern, putting out a hand to steady her.

"Kelke," was all she said.

"What? What about him? What'd you say?"

"Kelke," said Tarreiz again, urgently, and, pushing Tarkyn away, went to the Shadow Mage.

"Don't touch me," Kelke rasped as Tarreiz tried to do _something_. "You don't need me. Made that clear."

"Don't be stupid," Tarreiz snapped and rested her hands on him as though to heal him.

Kelke took advantage of the physical and magical contact to steal enough of her own power to put him back on his feet and break both contacts, whereupon he attacked Jandegar. The Mage of the Sun fought him off and said triumphantly, "For breaking the First Rule of the Mages you are hereby exiled forever from Altrisiac!"

"I already was!" Kelke snarled at him. "And if the rule you're referring to is the 'not hurting other Mages' one, then you've already done _that_!"

"I acted in the good of the world," Jandegar sniffed, turning his back on his 'fellow' Mage.

"As did I," Kelke retorted, glaring. "This world would be much better off if you were _dead_!"

"Get out of my territory!" Jandegar ordered.

"I was never welcome here anyway!" Kelke shot back, a rather weak retort, and headed for the door.

"Stop this," said Tarreiz sharply, although she wasn't sure to whom she said this. "You're both being very silly. Kelke, you can't just leave." Kelke did not reply and Tarreiz turned to Schala. "Make him stop."

"Kelke," began Schala, not entirely sure of what to say. The black wind brushed unpleasantly against the back of her neck and she jumped. It had been away for a while and had chosen this moment to reoccur. Schala understood then that if she let Kelke leave, it would be the end of the Mages. The Barrier was created, sure, but the Mages were still responsible for keeping this world going. Kelke's complete departure would cause the fracture lines between them to widen until no bridges could be built.

Schala used the tone she took with Janus when he was being a spoiled brat, which was often. "Kelke, stop."

Kelke did stop, but it was to turn to the others and say, "If you stay here, he's going to kill you. Mark my words, he'll break or kill you all sooner or later. Schala, go back to your own universe no matter what, and don't come here again. You might be safe then." He glanced at the others and announced, "If Altrisiac is forbidden to me, then my Citadel is forbidden to you. Leave me alone to live or die in peace as I choose. You don't want me around, I don't want to be around you. I will have _nothing_ to do with you."

"This is not wise," Tarreiz warned, despite the fact that he had stolen some of her magic, and usually anyone who dared such a thing would be facing her wrath, not her pleas.

"I am not known for my wise deeds," Kelke replied and strode out.

"Not good not good," Tarkyn muttered mostly to himself. "Are you _sure_ you're okay?" he asked Tarreiz.

"Yes!" Tarreiz snapped, pushing him away.

"You tried to kill him," Kerrelei accused Jandegar, who instantly protested. She interrupted. "No, don't try excuses! We all know you wouldn't have cared if he'd died as a result of what you did to him. First Tarreiz and now Kelke! Who's next? Jhyskar?"

"What is wrong with Kelke?" Ciaruse asked Tarreiz, ignoring all signs of another conflict between Jandegar and Kerrelei. "He insisted he was well. Did he lie?"

"I'm not authorised to detail the problems of another Mage," Tarreiz snapped at her. "You would need to ask him that."

"But he has exiled me from his territory," protested Ciaruse, which was apparently her interpretation of the events.

"He has _not_," Jandegar argued, "he hasn't the right nor the sense to exile anyone from anything."

"Oh, and you do?" challenged Kerrelei, hands on hips. "What, you have some right to say what we do with our own territories?"

"As the First Mage, it is _my_ task to keep the rest of you in line," Jandegar shot back.

"You are not doing a very good job," Ciaruse remarked, and there was silence. Jandegar looked betrayed and most of the others could not believe that Ciaruse was capable of being so rude. None of them had thought she knew anything was wrong, anyway.

"Tarreiz…" began Schala, "can we go home now?"

"Yes," Tarreiz responded. "You may."

"I'm not entirely sure how to transport us all back to our own universe by magic alone. Could you give me a hand?"

"Certainly."

"You don't have enough strength left for that," Tarkyn objected.

Tarreiz glared. "And how would _you_ know how strong I am? What makes you care, anyway? I never asked for your opinion!"

Schala intervened. "Could you please send us back _before_ you get into a huge argument with Tarkyn and go storming off and we never see you again?"

"Yes," said Tarreiz frostily and stormed out of the room, Schala just behind her.

Finally, they were going home.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

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Author's Note : Let's play 'how long can Imania draw everything out and keep the poor little Chrono Triggerians from going home'! No, seriously, they'll be in the End of Time in the next chapter… which I may or may not get around to posting before I leave for the Eisteddfod. Well, I had ends to tie in the Alternate Universe, like Kelke. Wait… no. He's a loose end which can never be _truly_ tied… I'm glad you like him as much as I do! Magus is still cooler, though. In my opinion, anyway.

Chapter Seventeen – The kitchen, Altrisiac

Tarreiz went instantly to the kitchen and Schala followed. Lucca moved to the stove as they entered. The young scientist's face was red, and Schala did not think it was heat from the stove. Magus gazed at them with that innocent expression that Schala _knew_ meant he had been doing something he thought he wasn't supposed to.

"We created the Barrier," Schala explained, adding, "and I think you two got past one of some sort. Metaphorically speaking."

"And it's about time," Tarreiz added. "Janus, please call the others."

"I'll come with you," Schala offered, taking her brother's arm. "I think we need to have a bit of a chat…"

The two of them wandered out, leaving Lucca again in the kitchen with one other person. This time the air was slightly more awkward. For a start, Tarreiz wasn't Magus. Secondly, she was _Tarreiz_, of all people…

Lucca checked everything, found it cooked to her idea of perfection. "So is this the end?" she asked Tarreiz over her shoulder. "We're going home?"

Tarreiz stood with her arms folded, hardly a stance that invited conversation., Even her reply, which was simply, "Yes," was cold.

"That's good. I guess the others won't want to eat first. Pity to waste all this, eh?" she asked, vaguely indicating the food.

"You may put it in the icebox. Kelke will eat it when he discovers its presence."

Silence.

"Nice weather," Lucca remarked with forced cheerfulness.

The Mage's voice was sharp. "It's snowing."

"Well excuse _me_ for trying to make conversation!" exclaimed Lucca defensively, turning to her. "I'm sorry that we've never managed to get along, but it hardly matters _now_."

"You are _not_ sorry," Tarreiz said coldly.

"You haven't made it easy," Lucca pointed out. "If I could take you apart and find out what made you tick, we'd get along easy."

"People are more unpredictable than machines. Janus is more unpredictable than most."

Lucca bristled. "What are you saying?"

"I am saying that you will most likely find it difficult, trying… and always a lot of fun. The instant he realises that you won't get hurt because of him, it will work. And it will work _very_ well."

"Oh." Lucca hesitated. "Are you saying that because of your… ability to see the future or…?"

"Partly that. Partly because I believe it will work and I know the two of you are crazy about each other."

"Oh," said Lucca again. She'd never had anyone crazy about her before. Then again, she'd never been crazy about anyone else either. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

A slight pause.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out between you and Tarkyn," said Lucca unwisely, realising only as she had finished her sentence that it had been the wrong thing to say. For a start, who knew if it really _was_ Tarkyn? Perhaps Schala could tell them… well, she'd probably find out now, anyway…

"It's just too hard for you to let me _try_ ending our acquaintance on a _slightly_ positive note, isn't it, Lucca?" Tarreiz snapped back.

Then, mercifully, the others walked in. With a rather vicious glare at Lucca. Tarreiz turned to speak to Frog. "Your business here is not yet finished. You have a conversation with Kelke that needs to be completed." She hesitated, added, "And I ask you to see if you can change his mind. He has declared that he will no longer involve himself with the Mages, and if that decision holds, then there won't _be_ an Alternate Universe. The Mages are necessary to hold this world together. We can let Schala go, provided she returns once every three years or so. We _need_ Kelke, who is thoroughly of this universe."

"I will do my best," Frog promised.

Tarreiz smiled slightly. "Thank you. I will transport you to the Black Citadel. When your conversation is completed, call for me, and I will bring you back here. Only then can I transport all of you back to your own world," she explained to the others. "Frog? Are you ready?"

"I am," Frog responded, and Tarreiz sent him to the gates of the Black Citadel.

Frog could see the Citadel. He wasn't sure if that was because it was all in ruins now or because of the time he had spent in the Otherworld with Kelke or a result of something entirely different. The Black Citadel had previously been visible only to a Mage or to Marle, who had been momentarily gifted with some kind of second sight that had since gone away, to the relief of the princess.

Entering the ruins of the Citadel was like stepping into a different world. There was no snow but it was as cold and dark as death. The icy wind seemed somehow ominous. Kelke's white robes were dark grey in the lack of light but Frog could still pick out the Shadow Mage. He made his way over the rubble to stand beside Kelke and for a moment they surveyed the vast ruins in silence.

Kelke spoke, his tone slightly melancholy. "This is going to take _so_ long to rebuild. I really made a mess of the place," he sighed, looking around. "I guess there's no point half-doing a job, if you're going to take the time to do it. May as well destroy the place totally."

"Why not go somewhere else?" Frog suggested.

"This is my territory," the Mage pointed out sharply. "There is nowhere else to go. Perhaps I won't rebuild it," he added as an afterthought. "Maybe me and my Citadel can fade into obscurity together. Keep each other company, in a way."

"Before thou fadest anywhere, I would ask of thee to fulfil thine promise," Frog put in. "I did not put up with thy inane chatter all through the Otherworld to miss out on thine own tale."

"Sit down," Kelke suggested, taking a seat on a handy bit of rubble. He eyed Frog, said again but more sharply, "_Sit down_. Thank you," he continued when Frog sat. "Before you get any tales, I have to give you your item, and I know I promised to show you a blade somewhat more decent than that ratty dagger."

"I have grown attached to the dagger," Frog protested. He still did not have the Masamune, as that was back in their own universe, but he liked the dagger.

"Here." With a flourish, Kelke handed over an impressive (and sharp) looking black sword. "It has the most imaginative name in the world. It's called the Shadowsword. So I was a little short on creativity," he shrugged. "Now, I know how much you like the Masamune – you even stuck me with it, which was very nasty – so hand over the dagger."

"Why?" asked Frog.

"Because I said so," Kelke snapped, and Frog reluctantly complied. Kelke balanced the dagger across the palm of one hand, and the weapon began to glow with a kind of black light. "Here," he said again and handed the dagger back. "Now it won't ever break or blunt, it will cut through almost anything except the sheath that I must remember to give you, it will continually decrease the life force of anything you cut with it so be careful, and you can have an item from me but continue to use the Masamune. You can carry a sword and a dagger at the same time, right?"

Frog nodded, asked, "Hath it a name?"

"It's called…" Kelke waved a hand vaguely. "The something. You can name it."

"I thank thee."

"Take this as well." Kelke handed over a sheath.

"I thank thee again," Frog thanked him again, carefully sheathing the dagger.

"Now…" The Shadow Mage hesitated, asked, "Do you _really_ want to know my 'tale'? It's fairly boring…"

"I do. It is for thine tale that I initially asked," Frog reminded him.

"Very well." Kelke considered. "I spent most of my time on the streets of Kamai, which is a fairly large town somewhere near Synalair. I realised when I was about eleven that I actually had magic. I used it without thinking to defend myself when someone tried to kill me," he explained. "I didn't know exactly what I could do with it but it was a weapon and Kamai is a bad place to be by yourself, especially unarmed. I think… it took me three days after my initial discovery to teach myself how to kill someone instantly with it. I'm the Shadow Mage, my life was never going to be all fun and games," he said defensively at Frog's expression. "Got myself a reputation as a psycho kid you didn't want to cross, so the 'gangs' stopped going after me. Life was much easier then. A group of wizards who were wandering through picked up on the fact that there was a crazed, incredibly powerful murderer running around killing people with unusual magic, and you can imagine their surprise when they found _me_." He gave a small smile at the memory. "I was only eleven at the time, after all. Most of them wanted to kill me. One of them protested and they told him _he_ could deal with me, so he took me in as his apprentice. A short time later he and I both realised that I was much more powerful than he would ever be."

"At what age didst thou come to this revelation?"

"Twelve. Well, I was almost thirteen when he ran out of things to teach me," Kelke shrugged. "I was a Sorcerer at the age of fifteen, and seventeen when I was initially called to Altrisiac. A bit like Tarreiz, but I was less powerful. I was not well received at Altrisiac. For some reason, people don't like evil much. Can't think why," he said partly to himself but with a wicked grin. "They gave me this area, the one that nobody else wanted, and I built the Black Citadel. It was easier to stay here and keep out of their way rather than put up with Jandegar's incredible arrogance. Have you _met_ Jandegar?" he asked. "No, I didn't think so. Don't bother with him. So I stayed in the Black Citadel by myself and enjoyed my solitude."

"And what didst thou do here?" asked Frog, glancing around.

Kelke considered. "Practiced my magic. Expanded the Citadel. Made up spells. Went looking for other powerful people. Found Magus, tried to kill him, failed, corrupted his cronies, wandered around bored for a while, found Magus again, prevented his use of magic, and you know the rest of the tale. And that's my life," he shrugged easily. "Boring, isn't it?"

"There is one thing that thou hast not covered," Frog protested.

Kelke tensed. "And that would be what?"

"From where, exactly, came thy magic? Surely it must have been hereditary?"

"Where did _you_ get _your_ magic from?" Kelke challenged.

A pause.

Finally, Frog queried, "What happened to thine family?"

"What do you mean?" Kelke shot back.

"Thou spoke of the family of everyone else. I heard not a word of _thine_."

"I used to live in Synalair," Kelke snapped. "My mother and sister happened to be out on the streets too late. I have no idea what happened to them. Sold as either slaves or whores, is most likely. My father and I moved to Kamai, which was supposed to be safer. He was murdered three days later, killed for the seven silver coins he had on his person. The remains of our family 'fortune'. I couldn't support myself, let alone keep the house, and so I took to the streets. I was almost nine."

"I am sorry," said Frog gently.

"It doesn't matter," Kelke muttered. "I'm not evil because life drove me to it. I'm evil because I chose to be. I could have used my magic when I first discovered it to better my position in life. I opted to go around killing everyone who had ever wronged me in Kamai, and you can be assured, there were quite a few. I _like_ to be evil. It's more fun than being good. And I don't need a family anyway."

"Is it not that the Mages are each other's family?"

"That lot?" Kelke scoffed. "I'd rather be alone than consider _them_ family. They're all so useless, and we argue a lot."

Frog nodded. "Much like any other family, perhaps. Family life is rarely idyllic."

A pause.

"You know," said Kelke thoughtfully, "you just might have a point. Although I can't go crawling back, of course… that would make me look weak…"

"It seems to me that most of them are anxious to see thine return," Frog put in.

"You think?"

"That was the message that I was given by Tarreiz."

"Well then," said Kelke brightly, "I might give them a second chance. After all, the Citadel _does_ get very lonely at times…" Another pause. Kelke brightened, asked hopefully, "So is this all? Are we finished? Time for you to return to your own universe?"

"Kelke…" Frog began reluctantly, and Kelke rolled his eyes. "Thou gavest to me mine human form. Why?"

"Because I can't heal frogs, I can only heal humans. I couldn't heal you like that. I had to undo Magus' spell if I was going to have your company in the Otherworld. That was what really wiped me out, because when the man casts a spell, he certainly doesn't seem to want it to go away," Kelke said admiringly. "Don't you_ dare_ tell him I said that," he added instantly.

"Never," Frog vowed. "I was wondering… is it capable… could I possibly be… a frog again? Please?"

Kelke stared at him. "You want me to turn you back into a frog."

"Yes," Frog agreed.

Kelke sighed. "Try to do a relatively good deed and this is what happens… don't you _like_ being human?"

"I do, but I think I prefer to be… a frog. I am used to it."

"If this is what you really want…"

"It is," Frog stated firmly.

"Okay," Kelke sighed and turned him back into a frog. "Is that finally _all_? Can we part ways at last?"

"Yes," Frog agreed happily. "Yes, we can."


	18. Chapter Eighteen

****

Author's Note : I'm back! We came fourth, if you're interested. I, um… will refrain from mentioning how many orchestras were actually _in_ the Eisteddfod… it makes me feel better about losing. I mean coming fourth! Well anyway.

Teapots, (can I call you that? It's just that I can't spell 'Apocalyptic') as if I could _really_ kill Kelke! He's so… Kelkish.

I'll probably post the next two chapters soon, otherwise I'll get caught up with schoolwork and you'll have to wait five weeks for this to finish. I'm halfway through writing the story that follows on from this, but I'm in the last, like, six weeks of Year Twelve so I'll be focusing on schoolwork if you don't mind!! Does anyone out there want to do my chemisty exam? _Pleeeeease_? I'd be ever so grateful…

Lavos countdown : two chapters…

Chapter Eighteen – The End of Time

There were eight little flashes of light. These yielded, in approximate order, Crono, Lucca, Marle, Frog, Robo, Ayla, Magus holding Alfador, and Schala.

"Thank you Tarreiz!" Schala called in the hope that Tarreiz would hear her, which she probably had.

Crono gave a sigh of contentment, happy to be finally back in the good old crowded End of Time, and then glanced over the others to ensure that his little group were all safe. "Hey!" he realised, "everyone got an item but me! Where's _mine_?"

"Yours is in our universe somewhere," Marle told him. "Didn't you listen to what Tarreiz told us?"

"Um." Crono tried to remember. "Probably not." He challenged, "Okay then, smarty pants, what is it?"

"I don't know," Marle shrugged. "She didn't tell us _that_."

"Yeah, it's not like Tarreiz would ever be remotely _useful_," Lucca muttered, walking over to a barrel to peer down at a glowing blue speck. "Hey Gaspar!" she added, waving at the Guru, but he was apparently asleep.

"The Masamune," Frog remembered. "Magus, where be my sword?"

"I left it with Cyrus in the Middle Ages," Magus replied. "Seemed like a good idea at the time…"

"Crono, may I please travel to the Middle Ages to reclaim my weapon?" Frog asked politely.

"Oh sure, go. Schala, what's my item?" Crono wanted to know.

"I shouldn't really tell you…" Schala began.

"Oh _please_," Crono begged.

Schala gave in. "Okay, it's a sword called the Rainbow. We'll have to go and do all sorts of things in order to get it, though."

"Then let's go!" Crono decided. "I'll take… Marle, and Ayla, and we can all go off and get my sword!"

"Oh, here," Lucca remembered and finally gave Magus the scythe, which, yes, she has been carrying since Chapter Eight, although I swear it was intentional. I didn't just forget about it. Honest.

"Wow! Thanks!" Magus exclaimed and gave it an experimental swing. The others scattered. "Fantastic!" the magician enthused. "Now find me something to hack with it! Ooh!" he exclaimed delightedly. "Like Lavos, for example!"

"Hang about," Crono put in sharply. "I hate to burst your bubble, but we're not going anywhere until I get my sword."

"Well, hurry up," said Magus impatiently, leaning on the scythe in much the same way that he had done with his previous one before Lucca burnt it to a crisp. "I want to get on with it! Hey! I can go and fight Spekkio!" he exclaimed and bounced off to do just that, Lucca running after him, as always.

If he had been concentrating on anything but getting his sword, which sounded cool, Crono would have seen warning signs about Magus' eagerness to be doing _anything_ now that the wizard had magic, hands, scythe and swishy cloak returned to him. As it was, Crono just said happily, "Marle, Ayla, let's go!" and led them to the Epoch to see about this item.

By the time the three of them returned, Crono proudly carrying the Rainbow, Lucca was already on the trail of something called the Moonstone. Frog had returned before Crono and the others, happily carrying the Masamune. Several adventures, which included defeating the Mother and replanting a forest, later, the group finally assembled in the End of Time with nothing else to do than make the attempt to defeat Lavos.

"We'll get out butts kicked," Marle announced. "We still have some training to do, in my opinion."

"Let's try it anyway!" suggested Magus, who had been having friendly and sometimes not-so-friendly magical battles with Spekkio for the whole time.

"What if we all die?" Marle argued. "Then the whole of humanity will perish!"

"Not so," Magus argued, for the others had taken him to the future once or twice. "They'll all just live in domes and be dominated by machines and other such."

"I _would_ like to try out my sword," Crono agreed. "I mean, before I take it into battle and see how it works against Lavos."

"You just want to swish it around," Magus accused.

"Well… true," Crono admitted, "but that's hardly a crime."

"I fear Crono and Marle both have points," Frog put in. "We may never be truly ready to go up against Lavos, but there is no dishonour in as much training as possible."

"Pick me! Pick me!" Magus, of course. "I'll train!"

"There may not be many places left," Robo warned. "I believe that extra experience is indeed a useful thing, but most of the more powerful enemies have already been defeated and the others no longer pose a threat."

There was a momentary pause while they tried to work out where they could go to gain this extra experience. Magus enthusiastically suggested fighting Spekkio but the others refused. Lucca woke up Gaspar, who told them to quickly find a person close to one of them who needed help. There was an argument between Lucca and the Guru that ran mostly on the lines of the fact that they had already _done_ that, thank you very much, and Gaspar no longer needed to _tell_ them to do something they had already _done_. Marle asked Spekkio, who asked if she wanted some practice and then, when she said no, hopefully wanted to know if Magus could come and play. Marle was left privately wondering who enjoyed these magical battles more, Magus or Spekkio.

"I can't think of anything," Marle was finally forced to admit as she rejoined the others in the main area.

"Hunting ground no good," Ayla agreed. "Dinosaurs now all too weak."

"We could go and find Flea," Magus suggested. This was shot down in flames as it probably required returning to the Alternate Universe. They were _not_ planning to go there any time soon.

"There is," Crono began reluctantly, "a place."

"Where?" asked the others in unison so perfect it was scary.

"Only three of us should go, though," he continued. "I mean, only three of us can go in the Epoch anyway."

"We can fit more in there," Lucca argued.

"I meant _safely_," Crono clarified. "I'll go, because it was my idea."

"I'm there!" said Magus excitedly. "I have no idea where we're going, but I want to play!"

"I'm not letting you go off by yourself," Lucca told him firmly and, taking Magus' hand a bit nervously, not sure how the others would react to it, said to Crono, "Magus and I will go with you."

Crono nodded, not having expected anything different. "Okay, let's go."

"No, wait!" Marle protested, putting out a hand to stop him. "You can't just pull a Magus on us, and leave without telling us where you're going. I'll worry. So tell me, where are you going?"

Crono smiled grimly. "To take a little training run in the Black Omen."


	19. Chapter Nineteen

****

Chapter Nineteen – The Black Omen

Author's Note : Yes, my interpretation of Magus is to have him out of character compared to the Magus in the game (ie the _real_ one). However, _my_ Magus is trying to turn over a new leaf, and anyway he's recently been reunited with his scythe and with Lucca. So there you go.

Crono landed on the Black Omen's metal floor in a crouch, rose to his feet. He looked around nervously, made sure Lucca and Magus were behind him before continuing. Lucca looked as though she didn't much like the place either and Magus, glancing around with an expression that was almost approving, seemed impressed. Coming from Zeal, he could probably appreciate the thing more than anyone else, although, Crono thought a little darkly, Lucca probably wanted to take the thing apart and get a better look at it.

There were little electronic sentinel thingies posted outside the door. Magus said instantly, "Here, let me," and, positively bouncing into the lead, used Lightning2 so much more stylishly that Crono could only raise one eyebrow and look disapproving. All of the guards were instantly destroyed.

"You weren't that strong when we fought you!" Lucca exclaimed as Magus returned to the other two, looking extremely smug. "You'd have killed us in an instant!"

"Ah, I was going easy on you," Magus shrugged carelessly, although he was clearly pleased that they were impressed. During his dark magic-restricted days, they had forgotten how powerful he really was.

"Don't be too eager," Crono warned, moving to the door. "We want to have a go too, you know. Are we all ready?"

"Ready as ever." Magus, of course.

"Lucca?"

"Well, I would have gone anyway," Lucca said, "but if Magus is going to pull out things like that, then I'm more than ready!"

"Don't say things like that to him, he won't be able to _get_ into the Black Omen, his head will be that big," Crono warned, but he was smiling. "What happened to the cold, aloof Magus we used to know?"

"Well, you made him try to be good, and then some nasty Mage blocked his magic, and now he wants to show off," Magus replied. "Kelke made me feel useless! I _hate_ being useless! So are we going or not?" he wanted to know.

"All right, we'll go," Crono sighed and they entered the Black Omen.

The first thing they encountered was Queen Zeal, who basically told them that she was going to be immortal with Lavos and that the three of them were going to sacrifice themselves to the big red fiery echidna. With that, she set a nasty-looking machine monster thing on them and disappeared.

"Let me, let me!" said Magus again and instantly cast Fire2.

"No, sorry, we want to play," Crono protested and joined in with Luminaire. Lucca tried out the spell that Jhyskar had given her, Combustion, finding it to be impressive and about as powerful as Flare, if not slightly lesser. The creature was defeated with not too much trouble and they moved further into the Black Omen.

"Ooh, ooh! A Martello! I know how to defeat these things, I used to do it all the time," said Magus enthusiastically.

"_Down_," Lucca said firmly. "We all took a bit of damage from that thing and we don't know what _else_ is in here. …Did you _really_ fight these things all the time?"

"No, but they can't be too hard," Magus shrugged. "Ow! It _shot_ me! Right," he snarled at the Martello and cast Ice2. It shot him again and he hit it with his scythe until it broke. "Ha ha! Magus wins, one to nothing!" he said triumphantly and turned to the other, which Crono and Lucca had already defeated. "Fine…"

"We're not going to let you do _all_ the work," Lucca pointed out practically, reloading her gun.

"And you might want to take it easy," Crono added, checking over the Rainbow carefully. "We don't want you running out of magic in the middle of a battle."

"I won't," Magus promised carelessly. He pointed at the door before them. "Are we going in here?"

"I suppose," Crono shrugged. "I don't know anything about this place… you sure you're all right? It _did_ shoot you a couple of times."

"I'm fine, _mother_," Magus tossed back. "Let's go!"

They discovered another Martello, which shot Magus and Crono before they destroyed it. Magus, who had probably taken more damage than anyone else, refused all offers of tonics or ethers and insisted that they continue, which they did. They had advanced perhaps thirty cautious steps when Crono stopped.

"Can you hear that?" he asked curiously, then turned. "Duck!" he added, taking his own advice as two Goons flew over them.

Without waiting to assess the situation, Magus used Dark Matter, his first Shadow spell of this little outing. This had no effect whatsoever on the Goons. One of the flew closer and, before Magus could so much as ready his scythe, picked up the good evil wizard (as he was generally known to them now), flew up with him a short distance and dumped him on the ground.

Magus did not move.

Lucca would have instantly gone to them but for a certain pair of irritated Goons that she and Crono had to fight off first. When they had been disposed of, the two of them went to see what was wrong with Magus _now_.

"He's very problematic, isn't he?" Lucca sighed, rolling the wizard over.

"He's unconscious," Crono noted.

"Brilliant deduction. Fix him."

Crono used a handy little spell known as Life and Magus' breathing became more regular, which was always a good sign. "Ow," Magus complained and, opening his eyes, took in the expressions of the other two. "Uh-oh," he added.

"Didn't you stop to _think_?" Crono demanded.

Magus considered. "Um. No."

"They were shadow creatures!"

"_Were_ they? That would explain why DarkMatter didn't work," Magus said thoughtfully, sitting up.

Lucca hugged him. "Stop doing this to me! You're going to _think_ next time, aren't you? You know you have nothing to prove! We can already appreciate how powerful you are! So next time choose _sense_ over arrogance!"

"Yes, Lucca. Sorry, Lucca," said Magus meekly as Lucca let him go.

"Why do you often take that tone with her?" Crono asked curiously. "Aren't you meant to be a big, scary evil wizard?"

"Hey, I recognise a dominant female when I see one," Magus retorted, getting to his feet. "Anyway, it's a learned habit. Sometimes the only thing to do was to look sad and say, 'Yes, Schala. Sorry, Schala'. Always worked for me, at least."

"So you're going to stop bounding ahead and getting us all in trouble?" Crono demanded.

Magus sighed. "I suppose…"

"You're going to have a look at the creatures we fight before attacking, aren't you?" Crono continued.

"Yes, all right, I've been a naughty child, now can we get on with it?" Magus demanded impatiently. "We have a Lavos to defeat, you know!"

"Okay, we'll get on with it," Crono decided and they proceeded to do so.

The End of Time

Marle studied the Epoch.

"What are you planning?" Schala asked her wearily.

"Well…" began Marle, "we could take the Epoch and… go and have a bit of a look at Lavos. I mean, that wouldn't be so bad… would it…?"

"Ayla go fight Lavos _now_!" agreed Ayla.

"We don't _need_ experience…" Marle continued. "Besides, we could… soften him up a bit, or something. Serves Crono right for running off with Magus and Lucca and having all the fun."

"The End of Time _is_ tedious," Frog admitted. "There is no change in scenery…"

"Well, you know I'm not allowed to come with you," Schala began. "I'll stay here with Alfador and wait for Magus to come back. For _all_ of you to come back. So the four of you can fit in the Epoch, as long as someone takes Lucca's Seat."

"Shotgun not," said Marle quickly.

Ayla, Schala, Frog and Robo stared at her. "Shot… gun," Frog echoed slowly.

"Yeah. I picked it up from the year 2002," Marle said brightly.

"Have you been taking unauthorised trips in the Epoch?" Schala demanded.

"Well, Crono and I wanted to get away from you lot for a while, and… wait a minute! I shouldn't be admitting something that'll get me in trouble!" Marle realised. "Anyway, let's just get into the Epoch and go and pay Lavos a bit of a visit!"

"Can I stay here too?" Frog pleaded of Schala.

"No," Marle replied firmly and, taking Frog by the scruff of the neck, dragged him into the Epoch.

****

Some place near Lavos

Crono, Lucca and Magus got through the whole of the Black Omen fairly quickly after Magus stopped being irresponsible and agreed to start thinking instead. They defeated Queen Zeal and found themselves thrown not before Lavos but in front of some people who looked very familiar.

"What are you doing here?" Crono demanded of Marle.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Marle challenged right back at him, hands on hips.

"My Epoch!" Lucca wailed and threw herself on the remains of the Epoch. "You crashed my Epoch! How _dare_ you? Who was driving?" she demanded, reaching for her gun. Magus removed it from her hands and she glared at him.

"You can fix it after we've defeated Lavos," Marle shrugged dismissively. "Seeing as we're _all_ here, why not go and fight Lavos together?"

"Isn't that kind of cheating?" Crono wanted to know.

"Anyone have problem fighting Lavos with many allies?" Ayla wanted to know. "Nobody have problem? All fight together! Good, good!"

"You have a point," Crono admitted.

"Is this really it?" Lucca asked in a whisper. "This is almost the end. It can't be real. I must be dreaming. It all comes to this..."

The ground shook under their feet. Magus dropped the gun and put his hands on the wreckage of the Epoch as though to steady himself. He was the first to react when the tremor passed, finding his feet and moving forward. The others watched him turn his face to something and then his cloak began to flutter as though in wind.

"The black wind," he noted. A smile lifted his lips briefly, a thoroughly predatory smile. "This is it, indeed. This is _real_. I've waited so long for this…"

"Magus…" Lucca cautioned, reaching for her gun. Going to Magus, she reached as though to touch his arm but he brushed her off.

"Finally, I shall destroy you!" he pronounced triumphantly and strode forward.

"Ayla not run! Ayla fight!" Ayla agreed and loped after the wizard.

"You're right!" Marle agreed. "For Doan and the others too!"

Frog drew his sword. "Cometh, Masamune!" With that, he was following the others.

"Let us go!" Robo suggested to Lucca and did his almost comical robot run in order to catch up.

Crono drew closer to his best friend, watching her with some concern. He knew she had her insecurities but it was not like Lucca to show her fear so obviously. "Are you all right?"

Lucca's response was immediate. "I'm not ready to die."

"You don't have to do this," he told her. "I'm sure we don't need all of us."

Lucca shook her head, readied her gun. "Ours… was a short youth!" she shouted, not exactly the world's most confident battle cry, and ran to catch up with the others.

"Hang about!" Crono protested. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

There was no time for reflection; Magus had almost reached Lavos. As Crono watched, Marle dared to put out a hand to stop the wizard. She spoke briefly to him. Magus hesitated, glanced back at Robo and Lucca, who were both swiftly catching up. The wizard nodded, a little reluctantly Crono thought, and waited.

Realising that he was about to miss the dramatic, inspirational entry, Crono sprinted with all of his considerable speed. "Took your time," Magus greeted him sourly.

Crono was too busy catching his breath to think up a suitable comeback. Magus rolled his eyes, waited until Crono had recovered. Crono straightened, gave a nod, and together the seven of them walked forwards to meet their destiny.


	20. Chapter Twenty

****

Author's Note : Bloody Marle! Getting in the way! Thank you for pointing out that mistake. She's gone now!

Yeah, and by the way, I am aware that the sweet water dries up in the end of the game. Artistic license…?

Chapter Twenty

The noise of what felt like the world winding down rang, deafening, in their ears, and they were blinded by bright flashes of light. Crono glanced up sharply at a metallic _clang_ that turned out to be Magus dropping his scythe to the ground. It was a gesture of defeat, but they had won. Surely, they had finally won.

The wizard spoke into the dead silence. "My life is over."

"_What_?" Frog demanded, pulling himself to his feet. He had not fought for three hours alongside these people to have one of them give up.

Magus turned his head only a little although he directed his words to Frog. "I have nothing more to live for. I devoted myself to this… vengeance. Now it's been achieved. There is nothing left."

He glanced down, helped Marle to her feet. The princess had, with her healing powers, brought him back from the brink of death countless times. You don't go through that without forming a bit of a bond.

"Life," Ayla said simply. Her voice was hoarse. She was a very vocal fighter, although her battle cries hadn't seemed to intimidate Lavos any. "Life is to live for."

Marle was pale. Crono went to her, wrapped his arms around her. No words were spoken between them. They were not needed. It was enough just to be there, to exist with each other, for each to feel the reassuring pulse of life emitted by the other. It had been a hard battle, but nobody had expected it to be easy.

"How do we get out of here?" Lucca wanted to know. She added acidly, "Considering that _someone_ broke my Epoch…"

Her moment of doubt had not lasted once the battle began and she had fought with as much skill and determination as ever. She had done them proud. They had all done each other proud.

The world faded from around them and they found themselves back in the End of Time. Schala, who had transported them back, went around giving them all big hugs. Their strength seemed to return at this contact.

"Thank you all so much!" said the Entity happily. "You all fought so well… Gaspar and I watched the whole thing… I wish I could have helped you. That was a well-timed frog," she greeted Frog, referring to the big frog that he had dropped on Lavos at one point during the marathon battle.

"What will occur now?" Robo wanted to know.

Crono spoke reluctantly. "I guess we return you all to your own times…"

"_What_ time?" It was Magus who had spoken. The wizard continued, "I _have_ no timeline. Born in Zeal, raised in the Middle Ages…" He said flatly, "I won't go back to that castle. I won't return to either timeline. I have nowhere to go."

"Yes you do," Lucca reminded him, slipping her hand into his. The two were still a little awkward about all of this but pretty sure they would get used to it eventually. "You can stay with me. Remember?"

"Are you two _finally_ together?" Marle wanted to know. Lucca and Magus exchanged glances. Lucca gave a shrug, then a nod.

"Good. Good," Ayla said approvingly. "Good match. Lucca strong, Magus strong. Many strong children." To Lucca, "You not young. Children soon."

"Not _young_?" Marle demanded. "She's not _old_ enough!"

"Well, speaking biologically…" Lucca began, then shook her head. "No! What am I saying? No children _just_ yet, thank you. Marle, remember that in the Prehistoric era, forty was probably ancient. People who lived to the age of," Lucca picked a number at random, "twenty-five were probably considered old."

"Uh-oh," Magus remarked, and Schala looked a little worried.

"But _you're_ almost old by those standards," Marle pointed out to Ayla, who nodded.

"Ayla very old, very bad. Soon children."

"With Kino?" Marle teased.

"Kino strong, be strong father," Ayla agreed.

"Well, if it suits _you_, that's fine," Magus began, "but I think we can wait for a while before we consider children, if you don't mind."

Crono had a thought. "Did anyone actually _use_ the items that the Mages gave us?"

"Well, considering that Lucca _burned_ my other scythe…" Magus began.

"Shut up!" Lucca shot back. "I think I used Combustion once, and I know Frog got one of the Lavos bits with his dagger."

"Cape good!" Ayla put in. She was wearing the silver cape that Ciaruse had given her.

Silence for a time. Then, "I suppose that it _is_ time for us to say our farewells," Robo said reluctantly.

"Oh, not yet!" Marle pleaded. She turned to Crono, began, "Make them stay a…" She hesitated. "Crono, what is that big evil smile for? What are you planning?"

"Could you call the Mages, please?" Crono asked Schala. "Just ask them all to come here."

"Sure," Schala agreed. "May I ask why?"

Crono's smile widened, if that was possible. "Because, as a way to celebrate our victory, we are going to have a _very_ big party…"

The Meeting Place, the Prehistoric Era

Crono sat down, taking care not to spill his cup of sweet water, and glanced around proudly. The Mages were not being their usual irritating aloof selves and it was all his doing. He had, after all, introduced them to sweet water, with slightly disastrous results.

Ciaruse had had one cup of sweet water, which had proved to be one too many. She had spent the next half an hour in hysterics before going to sleep, which was really for the best. Tarkyn was watching how much he drank and refused any efforts to have the stuff pressed on him. Jandegar proved to be quite nice, really, when he was talking a mile a minute and not being evil. Kerrelei and Jhyskar were just funny. Tarreiz was drunk, and I really mean _drunk_. The Mage of Vision seemed to have little tolerance for alcohol and it all went to her head. She had lost all common sense and was willing to drink anything she was given, which was possibly fatal.

Kelke did not drink. The Shadow Mage had been invited along with the others but he sat to one side, saying and doing nothing. He reminded Crono of… well, of how Magus had been before all of this had happened. Crono glanced around for Magus, saw him playing Twister with Lucca and Schala. Marle was turning the dial. She and Crono had discovered the game during their little adventure in the year 2002 and had brought it back with them. Ahh, modern technology was a wonderful thing. Well… technology a little less modern than that in Robo's era.

Where _was_ Robo? There he was. Tarreiz was attempting to teach him something called the 'robot' dance. Crono watched for a while but swiftly lost interest. Who did that leave? Ayla and Alfador. Ayla had gone to get some more sweet water. There wasn't quite as much as there had been before, but there was enough. Oh, there was plenty. And Alfador? Where was he, then?

A meow made Crono look down. He smiled, gave Alfador a bit of a pat. The cat had become somewhat of a mascot and everyone loved him, particularly Magus. Which made sense, because Alfador _was_ Magus' cat. Alfador did not drink either. Magus had expressly forbidden it on pain of black triangles of extreme doom.

"Do you know what we should play?"

Crono looked up at Tarreiz. "I don't want to know what we should play."

"We should play, we should play…" The Mage looked around as though for inspiration. "I've forgotten what we should play…"

Crono set his cup to one side, got up to steer Tarreiz somewhere relatively safe. "Weren't you teaching Robo how to dance?"

"He doesn't move very well," Tarreiz explained. "It's something to do with all the joints…" She giggled most alarmingly, got over it. "I could teach _you_ how to dance…" she said a bit suggestively, leaning on him.

"Why don't you teach Tarkyn?" Crono suggested, heading for the Forest Mage.

"Because I hate him."

"Of course you don't, you simply don't get along."

"I hate him," Tarreiz declared. "I don't want to dance with Tarkyn… he sucks…"

Crono waited for the rest of the phrase/insult but it did not appear to be forthcoming. "He sucks what?" he asked finally, curiously. "Cough drops?"

"He just sucks. It's a phrase from the near future… or the far future, I forget…"

"Of course it is," Crono replied kindly and handed Tarreiz to Tarkyn, despite her protests.

"You suck," Tarreiz told her 'fellow' Mage as Crono moved away.

"Thank you," Tarkyn responded uncomfortably. He wasn't entirely sure what she meant, but he was pretty sure it was an insult. "You know, you and I need to talk."

"If you want to take advantage of me because I'm _drunk_, then you can't," Tarreiz informed him firmly.

"Who says I'd do that?" Tarkyn chided cheerfully.

"Yes you would."

There was a pause as they both tried to work this out. Tarreiz, who had answered the wrong statement (in her happy little drunken world, he'd have said 'I wouldn't do that'), put one hand lightly on his face and held his eyes with a gaze still steady and impressively mysterious. (Hey, she worked _hard_ on the mysterious gaze.) Her voice and touch were gentle, tender, almost loving. Her words were anything but.

"There's nothing to talk about. Absolutely _nothing_. I hate you. I loathe and detest you. You should have _told_ me why you wanted to break up… I was going to marry you, or something stupid. But you didn't. So I didn't. So we can never be together. Never." She studied him. "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No," Tarkyn replied shortly, hurt. He had planned to discuss the relationship with her, figuring that she might be easier to reason with in this state. "Sit down," he ordered and wandered off.

Crono had witnessed the whole thing and guessed that it hadn't gone well. He turned and almost ran into Marle. "Did you try to play matchmaker without me?" the princess asked suspiciously.

"Not really. Well… no. I don't think so." Crono considered. "Not on purpose," he added. "Maybe accidentally."

"It didn't work," Marle noted. "I'll have to work on those two later…"

"Don't spend _all_ your time in their universe," Crono warned.

"Of course not," she responded innocently. "Want to dance?"

"Um… I'm not very good at – "

She cut him off. "That's okay," she said and pulled him onto the 'dance floor' despite his protests.

The game of Twister had ended because their dial-spinner had run off to dance with Crono. Magus, Lucca and Schala untangled themselves with some difficulty and many cries of, "Hey! That's my robe!" and "Get off my cape!" After that, Schala went off to do something else, leaving Magus and Lucca alone with nothing really to do.

"Want a drink?" he suggested.

"Why not?" she shrugged and they wandered in the direction of the sweet water.

Magus leaned closer as they walked to say a bit wickedly, "You _do_ remember what happened the last time you drank this stuff."

"Actually, I – wait. Unfortunately, I _do_ remember," Lucca allowed. "You made me take my shirt off."

"_You_ bargained with me. Never bargain with a slightly evil wizard, Lucca. We tend to cheat."

"You cheat in races and wrestling matches, too," she grumbled, pouring some sweet water into a cup.

"I won fair and square!" insisted Magus, hands on hips.

"You cheated and we both know it. Here." She handed him the drink, poured herself one. Taking a sip, she turned to survey the place. "Do you think the Mages are having fun?"

"Do you care?" he retorted.

"Well, I…" She considered. "To be honest, I'd be happy to have nothing to do with them ever again."

"Do you think we will?" Magus asked doubtfully. "Have something more to do with them, I mean."

He had put an arm almost hesitantly around her waist; she leaned against him a little to let him know that it was okay. It was more than okay. "I… don't know. I guess we'll find out." Lucca had a decent mouthful of her drink, considered the scene before her. "Get a room, you guys!" she shouted at Crono and Marle, who didn't hear her.

"Do you want to dance?" Magus suggested.

Lucca glanced down at her cup. "I don't think I've had enough sweet water to agree to that."

"I think I've had too much," he muttered. "I can't believe I even suggested that."

She smiled at him. "You're learning. You can still be sarcastic at times and you are not to _ever_ go anywhere without telling at least Schala, but you're learning to be good."

Silence for a time, a comfortable silence. Magus glanced down at her, gave a groan. "You've got _that_ look."

"What look?" Lucca protested.

"The one that _screams_ the fact that you're planning something. Like throwing me in the ocean in the pretence of washing my hair."

"It _needed_ a wash," Lucca shot back, studying him. "It's growing."

"Oh, really?" he exclaimed with mock surprise. "Imagine that!"

She resisted the urge to thwack him. "Are you going to grow it long again or what?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, lifting one hand self-consciously to his hair. "I think I'll just see what happens. So what are you planning?"

"Well, it'd be really sad if we never saw each other again," Lucca began. "We should have… reunions in the End of Time. For old times' sake, you know."

Magus nodded wisely. "That's probably a good idea, but I don't know if it's just the sweet water talking. Ask me in the morning. But not _too_ early in the morning…"

A second pause in the conversation, as comfortable as the first. "Now what?" Lucca asked.

"Let's go throw Frog again!" Magus suggested enthusiastically, turning back to the huge bowl of sweet water and picking up a clean cup.

"I don't think he'd agree to that," Lucca cautioned.

"Not _yet_," Magus agreed, his eyes gleaming wickedly.

"What are you – " He held up the now full cup and she groaned. "You're going to get him drunk?"

"What are slightly evil wizards for?" he retorted and, taking her hand, pulled her away to start some minor mischief.

Kelke sighed to himself and gazed mournfully into space, doing his best to ignore the drunken revelry around him. They were _all_ going to regret this in the morning and he would be the only one without something he wished he hadn't done. Let the others keep their stupid sweet water. He didn't need them. He didn't want to be here anyway. They hadn't even thought to supply party food. Imagine, the nerve! Letting a poor Shadow Mage go hungry….

…oh… what was the _point_? So he wanted to join in. It was better for everyone if he didn't. He wouldn't be _welcome_. Evil people weren't allowed to have _fun_. Look at Magus, he had decided not to be evil any more, and _now_ he was having fun. Still… that meant that Kelke was the most powerful evil wizard around the place. His Universe _or_ Magus'. He brightened up a little at the thought.

Purple entered his vision. He blinked, but it didn't go away. Glancing up, he met Schala's eyes. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"Come and dance," she suggested.

Kelke was instantly on his guard. "Why? What are you planning? You hate me! I won't let you humiliate me. Why would _you_ want to dance with _me_?"

Schala ticked off the reasons on her fingers. "One, I've had just enough sweet water to offer you this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Two, I think you've earned _some_ fun, and no, I'm not doing this because I feel sorry for you. Three, it would _really_ irritate Janus." She held her hands out to him. "So come on."

Janus. Her name for Magus. Kelke glanced over at his arch nemesis, smiled at Schala. "Well… how can I refuse?"

"But I do not wish to drink more sweet water," Frog protested. "Last time I woke up in a tree. Hast thou any understanding of how unsettling that is for one's nerves, to awake in a _tree_?"

"It's a party, you're supposed to have fun," Lucca beseeched. She glanced up at Magus to ask for his aid – this was his idea, after all – but found that he wasn't even paying attention. He was looking at the 'dance floor'. No, _glaring_.

"Magus?" she asked uncertainly.

Magus glanced back at her, then at Frog. He took the untouched cup of sweet water from Frog, knocked it back in one go, blinked a few times and gazed off into the distance, came back to prehistoric Guardia with a jolt and handed the cup back to Frog. "Right," he said finally. "I think I can handle it now."

"Handle what?" asked Frog, mystified.

"Kelke is _dancing_ with my sister," Magus explained. "Well, two can play at _that_ game. Come on, Lucca."

"But I'm only going to make a fool of – " she protested, but he pulled her onto the 'floor' anyway.

Lucca found to her surprise that she was enjoying herself. Magus didn't really know how to dance either and soon forgot that he was meant to be impressing Kelke or someone with his 'skill'. "I've been thinking," he said as he twirled her under his arm.

"Oh? How unusual," Lucca laughed, falling against him.

"Don't be mean," he chided, setting her back on her feet. "Don't you want to know my thoughts?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No. Do you know how to waltz?"

"No!"

"Me neither. Tango?"

"Sure!" Lucca replied, although she didn't, and they did that tango thing that people always do. It was very melodramatic, especially when you take his cape into account.

"So what's this thought of yours?" she asked finally.

"I think your idea is good! We should all meet up in the End of Time! Regularly! Like clockwork!"

"Is that _all_? That thought? That's this great thought of yours?"

"Yes! What do you think?"

"I think yes!" she replied, grinning. "Can I have that in writing? Someone thought I had a _good_ idea?"

"Do you know what _else_ I think?" Magus began before launching into something completely unrelated. "Were you watching Tarreiz when she was trying to teach Robo to dance?"

"No, when was that?"

"We were playing Twister!"

She moved in close, put her hands on his shoulders. "Now what were you doing watching Tarreiz?" she demanded with mock-suspicion.

"You know I'd only ever seriously watch you," Magus responded and twirled her again.

"Do you want to know what _I_ think?" Lucca began.

"No, but I'm going to!"

"I think you're _drunk_!"

"I think we're _both_ drunk!"

"I'm not drunk, I'm just a bit tipsy," she giggled. A pause. "Wait, I'm giggling. Okay, I'm drunk!"

"What I think," Magus continued, "what _I_ think is that… I think I'll live in the End of Time!"

"Why?" she wanted to know.

"Because it's a place to live? I mean, I'll have to build a _house_… and then you can come visit me whenever you want to!"

"I can't, _silly_! The Epoch's broken!" she reminded him.

"So _fix_ it!" he shot back, twirling her in close. "And you always have the Gate Key… and I am _not_ silly."

"You're right," she exclaimed with amazement. "On _both_ counts."

"So you can come visit," he repeated, softly this time.

"That'd be great," she agreed as Magus put his arms around her. Lucca rested her head on his shoulder and smiled. "Really great," she said softly and settled down to really enjoy life.

****

The End

All right.

This is the end of my trilogy. (You can tell, I wrote 'the end' and everything.) There are still some ends to tie and I plan to write a fourth story in my Crono Trigger saga for my own personal amusement. Do you want me to post it, or do I do what I should have done two stories ago and just stop? Do you reckon it's gone too far away from the game itself? The fourth one will have nothing to do with the game except for the characters. It's up to you. If the fic isn't going to be well received then there's hardly a point in posting it. It will be written regardless (which sounds an awful lot like a threat). It just depends on whether or not you want me to inflict it upon you.

Be warned. This could spawn another and another and another until you are all most thoroughly sick of me. I'm sure I'll learn to stop… someday.

Hmm, yes. I am currently working on the fourth story, which will involve Kelke joining the group for a brief time, and have also started the fifth (although I haven't yet finished the fourth). The fifth one… no, if I try to describe it here, it will sound like something that's been done before. It _is_ like something that's been done before, but I swear mine has a twist.

I will not be posting the fourth story for a very long time as I have to put all my time into failing Year Twelve first. After I've done that and then found a job as a garbage collector or something, I shall get back into my writing. (Wait, I can't be a garbage collector! I haven't got my driver's license! Damn…)

Until then, I'll see you all later. Have good holidays, for those people whose holidays correspond to mine! And for anyone in Year Twelve or _terminale_ or whatever it's called all over the world, good luck… study harder than I have been studying…


End file.
